


The Letters Spell Out Your Name

by UnknownBard



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Depression, F/F, Fluff, PTSD, Smut, WARNING: mild torture, dark plot points because the writers on the show can never do that, i like angst okay, in which lena and kara actually have character development, lotta angst, more smut to cum i promise, talks of suicide, the calm before the storm, totally mushy marriage proposal
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-06
Updated: 2020-03-16
Packaged: 2021-02-27 19:20:06
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 43,573
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22590862
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/UnknownBard/pseuds/UnknownBard
Summary: Kara and Lena work out their issues. Post season 4. I'm really damn tired of them being hard-headed a-holes and not fixing their SHIT.come chat with me on Tumblr: sups-in-my-corp.tumblr.com
Relationships: Kara Danvers/Lena Luthor, Kara Danvers/Lena Luthor/Supergirl
Comments: 70
Kudos: 370





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I haven't started season 5 yet, so canonically, you can fit this where ever you'd like after season 4! The song quoted throughout the fic is called 'Hannah' by CrazyEightyEight.

_Outside of time, under the sky. I see everything._

“Lena,” Kara greeted as she walked into Lena’s living room just after she had gracefully landed on the outside balcony. Why everyone left their door open was concerning to the superhero - though it was convenient for her, so she certainly wasn’t going to complain. 

Lena jumped as the familiar voice interrupted her quiet musings; or was it rather, tortured theorization? Uncurling her fingers from the glass almost empty of amber liquid, she stood up from her comfortable chair and folded her arm over her chest. 

She used to welcome Kara’s presence. The innocent aura and effortless happiness she thought Kara possessed made her believe that this world wasn’t so bad after all. Now she couldn’t stand to see that self-righteous look on her face, especially dressed in that _costume_ , and it made her stomach turn at the sight. 

_Can’t find the words. Still seeing her. Silent suffering._

“I understand other people may be alright with you coming and going as you please in the privacy of their own home, _Supergirl_ , but I would prefer a call first,” Lena spoke, her voice cold and indifferent. 

Kara turned away, perhaps to hide the hurt expression on her face, or perhaps she couldn’t bear staring into sea-green eyes that used to hold her gaze with curious intelligence; guarded, yes, but full of warmth regardless. 

That was all but gone now. The sharp look she received hurt more than she was willing to admit. She may be the strongest woman on earth, yet when faced with the pain she caused her best friend, it left her utterly and completely powerless.

Was there anything she could say? Anything at all she could do to be forgiven? 

Kara could hold the weight of an entire building on her shoulders. Bullets would ricochet off of her like they were nothing but plastic casings, and despite all those impressive abilities, she couldn’t protect the one friendship that mattered to her the most. 

Kara took a step forward, surprised when Lena didn’t move. She was standing her ground. “I know you’re hurt, and I know that it’s my fault.”

“Why are you here?” Lena pressed, impatience evident in her voice.

Truth be told, Kara had no heroic motivation for barging in Lena’s home so late at night. She couldn’t sleep, her mind racked with the guilt of her actions. She had spent most of the evening stopping routine muggings in hopes that it would help keep her thoughts from spinning out of control. It didn’t.

“I thought we could talk.”

Chuckling, Lena grasped the glass that was behind her without looking. She brought the rim to her lips and downed the rest of the liquid. “We had every chance to talk, and you chose to lie instead.” The warmth of the bourbon burned a path down her throat and did nothing to appease the anger that was ignited by the woman’s presence in her home. 

Kara had an odd sense of déjà view, knowing they’ve had this conversation more than once before, and every time, it ended absolutely nowhere. In fact, the bitterness and resentment drove them further apart and it felt like they were both standing on opposite sides of a very wide crater. The ground cracked wide open from their own stubbornness. 

“I didn’t hide who I was because I didn’t trust you, Lena,” _and definitely not because you’re a Luthor._ “I hid who I was because for once, I just wanted to be loved and appreciated for being Kara. Not for being Supergirl, not for saving your life with my powers. I wanted you to like me for being your friend.”

The plight of a superhero was hard to understand for most. How could invulnerability ever be a bad thing? Supergirl’s skin may be unbreakable, but her psyche and her heart could definitely be battered and bruised.

“One cannot love someone fully without knowing who they are as a whole.” Lena glanced at the open, half-full bottle on the glass table and fought the urge to fill her glass once more. 

She lifted her gaze and met Kara’s remorseful eyes. “For all these years Kara, you showed me only half of you who are and made me believe that’s all there was to it, while you hid the other half that made you complete - that makes you who you are. Why?” The question was rhetorical in nature, Lena understood exactly why, but she needed Kara to see it for herself.

“I was scared.” Kara quietly admitted.

“Sacred of what exactly?” _Don’t you dare lie to me again._

“Of being loved. Of being cared for,” gritting her teeth, Kara cast her eyes at the ceiling as tears shone in her eyes. Attempting to translate her emotions into words was harder than she wanted to admit, and she wished Alex was here to help. Though, she knew it was nothing but horrible self-pitying. 

_Suck it up, Super._

“I am scared of admitting that I’m vulnerable like everyone else, that I was frightened of losing you when I realized it was too late. And that no matter what I did, I knew that it would damage our relationship.” There was a tightening of her throat as she took a short intake of breath. “I was scared that you would ever look at me like you are looking at me right now.” _With hate and disgust._

Kara couldn’t blame Lena, she felt the same way.

“You made me think, you made me _believe_ I could be a better person. That I could escape the stigma of being a Luthor and then I found out about your secret from my brother. My dying _brother_ that I shot and killed!” A choked sob escaped through gritted teeth.

 _So here’s where your story begins._ _A tragedy lined by innocence._

Kara looked away again, forcing her eyes closed as warm tears made their way down her flushed cheeks. She curled her hands into fists, wanting to pummel an entire building until it was ground dust. “If I could go back in time and fix my mistake I would,” was said barely above her whisper. 

“I know you would, and it makes me resent you even more,” Lena spat harshly. _To hell with it_. She grabbed the bottle of bourbon and transferred its contents into her glass once more. “You couldn’t make the right decision even when you knew how I had been hurt in the past. You chose to lie regardless of that.” Taking a deep, shaky breath, Lena took a sip from her glass. It was a bad idea, but the buzz was nice, even if it didn’t numb her feelings or mend her scarred heart. 

“I’m _so_ sorry,” Kara apologized earnestly, unable to hide the shaking in her voice.

“Why didn’t you just tell me?” Lena shot back angrily.

“I tried. I wanted to,” the woman answered truthfully as she took a few hesitant steps towards Lena. _Stupid. Stupid. Why didn’t you just tell her back in Kaznia?_

_The pages are already written. The letters spell out your name._

“Then perhaps our friendship didn’t mean that much to you,” Lena scoffed, “despite what you tell yourself.” She watched Kara approach her and willed herself not to take a few steps back. She feared that if she let her close enough, she’d break apart and forgive her for everything.

“You matter to me, more than you know.” Kara stopped just inches away from her, and though she saw the anger swirling in the other woman’s eyes, she reached out to touch Lena’s arm.

“Stop lying!” Lena pulled back sharply, fingers gripping her glass so tight she was sure it would crack under the pressure. “Stop trying to make me pity you!”

 _The lies stop now._ “I was afraid to admit my feelings for you!” Kara shouted back.

Kara’s outburst surprised Lena, perhaps more than her sudden admission did. She had never seen, much less heard the superhero sound so desperate; one moment away from coming completely undone. “Excuse me?”

“I hid a part of myself because - because it was easier than admitting that I love you. That I’m _in love_ with you.”

Lena’s mouth opened, and though she desperately wanted to say something she couldn’t find her voice. She wondered if a part of her knew this all along. If she herself had hidden the same feelings in order to guard her own heart against all the hurt Kara had caused her.

_But I wouldn’t change a thing. I wouldn’t change a thing._

The silence was, unfortunately, the catalyst as Kara fell to her knees, unable to hold herself up any longer. Her bright red cape pooled all around her. It was a sign of power and hope for many. Something that could shield her and others from physical pain. At this moment, however, it was simply a piece of clothing; a costume used to hide.

There was a distinctive sound heard in the otherwise quiet home as Lena set her glass down on the coffee table. Moments later, a warm hand rested on Kara’s shoulder, while another slipped behind her head, and she felt herself being pulled into Lena’s arms. Her cheek pressed against the cool silk of her robe. 

Kara wrapped her arms around Lena’s hips, and though she was careful not to hurt her, she held on like her life dependent on it. “I am so, _so_ sorry,” she repeated over and over. Even if she said it a hundred times, it wouldn’t be enough. The usually strong and impenetrable body was wracked with sobs caused by her own guilty conscience. 

Lena closed her eyes, tears spilled down her cheeks as she listened to the heartbreaking sobs coming from her friend. “I’m sorry too,” she whispered back, knowing it would fall on deaf ears. _You caused yourself all this pain, you caused me pain, just because you couldn’t accept your feelings?_

Lena kneeled down in front of Kara, mirroring her position. _I really wish you would have just told me._ She placed her palms on either side of the blonde’s face, gently coaxing her head up so their eyes could meet. Blue eyes expressed love and sincerity; they told her exactly what she needed to know. More than words ever could, which is why she answered with actions and not words.

Their noses brushed against each other as Lena’s soft lips pressed against Kara’s in a gentle yet confident kiss. 

Kara’s eyes widened for a moment before they fluttered closed as she surrendered to the intimate embrace. She parted her lips to take in a sharp breath, letting out a groan when she tasted the bourbon on the woman’s tongue.

Lena pulled back when she felt her head reeling, though it wasn’t from the alcohol in her system. Well, maybe not entirely. “We should…” Stop? Or rather, slow down, before her desire would cloud her better judgment. The drastic change in their relationship wasn’t going to fix the damage that was caused, they still needed to work on bringing trust back into the equation, but it was a start. 

“Yeah,” Kara chuckled. “Yep,” she said in a slightly more decisive tone. Sighing, she rested her forehead against Lena’s and traced the woman’s bottom lip with her thumb. Every fibre in her being screaming to throw caution to the wind. If there was one thing she had learned from this falling out was that she needed to take Lena’s own feelings into consideration, and not just act on her own. 

Both women’s thoughts raced wildly, though they remained silent. Feeling the warmth of Lena’s breath on her lips almost made her crack. Pering at the inviting lips that were so incredibly close to hers broke her resolve and she pulled Lena back into a more heated and passionate kiss.

Moans and groans were drowned out in the intense exchange. _Did she growl? Did I growl? God, this is embarrassing._

Without forewarning her, Kara stood up and pulled a mildly stunned yet curious Lena along with her. “You should probably close that,” Kara pointed at the open balcony door behind her as she took a few steps backwards, needing to distance herself from Lena; her heart was beating wildly against her chest. An embarrassed chuckle escaped her lips as she suddenly found her boots extremely interesting. _Keep it together._

Lena chuckled as a genuine smile appeared on her lips, finding the blush on Kara’s cheeks absolutely endearing. She took a deep breath in an attempt to calm down her own racing pulse. “I’ll do that,” she replied, her voice now rich with warmth.

“I’ll see you tomorrow, Miss Luthor,” Kara winked at her before flying out of the room. 

“Good night, Kara.” Lena wrapped her arms around herself as the unexpected gust of wind rattled her robe and curtains alike. 

For the first time in a long time, both women felt something they hadn’t in a long time: hope.

_So here’s where your story begins._

  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Season 5 spoilers, if you're not caught up yet please don't read!
> 
> 'Wasn't this supposed to be a one-shot?' Yes, yes it was. But here I am, a woman, standing in front of many people, telling them to not judge her lack of self-control.
> 
> The song quoted is "Easier" by Mansionair and Shaed.

_Face up, untouched, gazing at the ceiling._

The soothing night air made a mess of her blonde locks and if not for her Kryptonian constitution she would probably be freezing, but as she so happens to be _super_ , the gusts of wind washed a sense of peace over her as if these past few months haven’t been completely insane. As if she didn’t feel like she was suffocating whenever she wasn’t outside, hovering and floating above the city.

_Game's up, never bring you down._

Regaining Lena’s trust has been rocky, to say the least, not to mention confusing and beyond frustrating. The kiss was nice. More than nice. Kara was sure it clearly spelled out her feelings and emotions. She thought the way Lena reciprocated it, with just as much vigour, that she felt the same way; that they were ready to move past everything. 

Little did Kara know that Luthor grudges run deep and that if something seems easy, or too good to be true, then it certainly almost _always_ was.

_Face up, our love's craving for some feeling._

Kara apologized, sincerely might she had, multiple times and still that wasn’t enough. There was still inhibited rage behind those big green eyes and it scared Kara more than she would like to admit. Not knowing how to fix something, or rather, _what_ exactly it was she needed to fix.

The red crest delicately embedded on her chest represented hope. Hope represents fighting for the ones you love. It’s a reminder that no one can go through life alone, not even the girl of steal and certainly not a powerful businesswoman constantly living in her brother’s shadow. 

_Game's up, we're nowhere to be found._

Lex coming back to life after the crisis complicated everything, making Kara’s quest of reconnecting with Lena considerably harder. Still, Kara was determined. Every time they spoke, every time Kara attempted to move forward they would get caught in the exact same cycle of Kara spewing apologies, which would then devolve into screaming matches and uselessly cold remarks from Lena. 

Even if she could hold the world on her shoulders by sheer force of will, Kara was not a punching bag - not even for the ones she loved. And certainly not for the woman she loved. 

_I'm stuck, I'm stuck, I'm stuck here in my skin._

Kara slowly ascended onto Lena’s balcony, her boots hitting the ground almost silently. A small smile tugged at the corner of her lips as she noticed the door was firmly closed this time. Perhaps there was hope for her yet. _At least she listens...sometimes._

Taking a step forward, Kara gently knocked at the window. A few seconds passed and there was still no sign of Lena, though dim lights were open in the living room and kitchen area. Worried, Kara used her x-ray vision to scan the whole apartment. An invasion of privacy, no doubt, but what if she was in danger?

Kara spotted the distinctive silhouette of Lena’s slim figure standing against the wall of her bedroom. Contemplating what to do, Kara let out an irritated sigh and knocked again. "Lena, please, open up." She masked the anger and urgency in her voice, although she failed miserably. 

Alex had mentioned that perhaps what Lena needed was to see a professional to deal with her pain and anger, and Kara couldn’t help but think that Lena wasn’t the only one who needed a thorough therapy session. 

_I'm stuck, I'm stuck, I'm stuck with you._

Taking a deep breath, Lena pushed off the wall and left the safe confines of her bedroom. Kara was nothing if insistent, but at least she had the decency to enter through the living room and not break the privacy of Lena’s bedroom. 

When their eyes met, Lena could see the anger in Kara’s face clearly. She replied with her own icy stare. Nonetheless, she unlocked the glass doors and turned around. The sound of the door sliding open and closing did nothing to quell the tension quickly building around them; neither did Kara’s nervous throat clearing and the puff of air that escaped her lips.

Lena eyed the cupboard where the half-empty bottle of Scotch was stored. “What are you doing here?” She asked, turning around, arms already folded over her chest, chin turned up slightly.

“Lex is using you,” Kara practically blurted out.

A delicate brow rose up, followed by a sly smirk displayed on red lips. “Surely you see that I’m using him as well? I fail to see your point.”

“He’s a...maniac! He’ll hurt you and you know it.” The superhero’s patience was rapidly draining every second Lena kept answering her nonchalantly, dismissive of the dangerous position she had put herself in by accepting to work with Lex.

“And I assure you that he knows I’ll hurt him too. I did shoot and kill him after all.” Green eyes shifted to Kara’s clenched jaw. A part of her enjoyed the anger the superhero rarely displayed openly, while another part hated herself for being the cause. There was a cruel dichotomy between her emotions and her actions. Her sense of self shattered in two halves that were constantly clashing, and the noise was almost too much to handle. 

_Oh, tell me it gets easier, that I'll figure it out._

“Why are you doing this?” Despite herself, it came off as a plea rather than a question.

“I have fooled myself to believe I was different from my family. They use people for their selfish needs and I’m no different.” _Just like you used me, and my friendship with your reporter persona._

“Stop. Just, stop.” Kara raised her voice as she took a step forward. “You are not your brother or your mother.” _How many times do I have to say this to you?_

Craning her head sideways, Lean asked without missing a beat: “did you forget about the part where I shot and killed my own brother?”

Kara quietly cast her eyes down, knowing the guilt of Lena’s actions were tearing her apart and it broke her heart to see that she couldn’t heal the open wound herself. “You killed a dangerous psychopath to protect yourself _and_ your friends. That is the definition of a hero, Lena.”

_Oh, tell me it gets easier, that I'll figure it out._

The laugh was humourless. “I am _not_ a hero,” Lena’s voice was heavy with shame. She angrily wiped away the tears that threaten to fall as she turned away from the woman once more, back towards her.

“Yes you are,” Kara persisted. She was close enough to lay her hands on Lena’s shoulders, but she knew better. “Without you, this earth would have been destroyed too.”

“You’re wrong,” Lena choked out unevenly. 

“You know I’m right.” 

“You’re wrong!” The sudden angry outburst was accompanied by a sob.

Kara swallowed thickly, her throat constricting painfully as she forcefully held back her own tears. Taking a deep breath she willed her voice to remain steady and confident, like the superhero she was supposed to be. “Let others care for you. Let _me_ care for you.”

“You and I both know that I don’t deserve it.” When Lena handed the revolver to Eve, she thought about asking her to train the barrel at her chest and pull the trigger. It was a fleeting thought, a moment of panic and weakness, but it shook her to the core.

_Face up, untouched, craving for some healing._

It was crystal clear to Kara that Lena couldn’t forgive her betrayal because Lena couldn’t forgive herself for what she did. “But you do. You are worth it. To me you are.” was gently whispered, though it conveyed unmistakable pain.

Every soft-spoken word of encouragement felt like a slap in the face and every gentle touch completely gutted her. “Why won’t you just leave me alone?” Lena turned sharply when she felt Kara’s hands gently squeezing her upper arms.

“Lena, please. I-” Kara was cut off as Lena turned around in her arms, closed fists wildly swinging at Kara’s chest repeatedly as warm tears freely spilled down her cheeks.

“Shut up!” Lena’s voice was rough and despairing as she continued to blindly assault the strong body in front of her.

Kara was stunned immobile for a moment and let the punches land without trying to halt Lena’s movements at all. They didn’t hurt, of course, they could never hurt, but her heart was in shambles as she watched Lena come undone in front of her. And perhaps it wasn’t entirely her fault, yet she was as much to blame for the falling out.

_Take off, you're never around._

Slowly, Kara wrapped her arms around Lena’s shoulders and gathered the woman into the safe confines of arms. “I love you,” Kara whispered against Lena’s temple, her lips grazing against the skin and the loose jet black hair.

“I’m evil,” Lena repeated over and over in between sobs, her voice muffled into Kara’s neck; the iconic blue and red uniform wet with her tears.

“You’re a good person and far from being evil.” Kara continued, tenderly coaxing Lena further into the embrace until both of their bodies melted together. Lena’s body was rigid against hers as she attempted to forcibly extricate herself from the embrace.

Kara held on still, soothingly moving a strong hand around tightly coiled shoulder blades. Eventually, she felt Lena relax and sink into her arms once the crying subsided.

They spent minutes in silence, neither noticing nor caring how much time they stood there holding each other. “I’m sorry,” Lena broke the silence with a soft whisper. “I can’t possibly excuse all that I’ve done to you, and everyone else.”

Kara pulled back just enough to gaze down into sea-green eyes. “I think you need to talk to someone.” _Kelly could help I bet._

“What, like a shrink?” Lena chuckled, taking a step back she wiped away the drying tears at the corner of her eyes. “I’m sure that would go over well. ‘I killed my brother but now he’s alive again and I constantly hurt the woman I love because I’m a terrible jerk, can you help me’?”

“You’re not a jerk,” Kara made a face and smiled at the woman. “Okay, maybe a little bit.” She used her hand to illustrate how little of a jerk Lena was by bringing her thumb and index close together. Then with mirth dancing in her eyes, she brought both of her hands up and held them far apart to reveal the actual truth.

Lena narrowed her eyes in such a way that should have clearly been dangerous and conveyed as a warning sign in any other situation, yet lucky for our hero, Lena couldn’t help the bright smile that appeared on her lips. “Don’t push your luck, _darling_.”

Kara held her hands up in mock surrender as she feigned complete innocence. “Hey, you said it.”

“I did. I also may have mentioned that I loved you, and I mean it.” Lena once again stepped into Kara’s open arms, though this hug was warm, inviting, and she reciprocated the gesture immediately. “I’m a horrible mess,” she softly grumbled into Kara’s neck, enjoying the way the heard and felt the low rumble of her chuckle.

“I’m here for you. Whatever you need,” Kara expressed sincerely as she dropped her head and rested her cheek on top of Lena’s head.

“Kara Danvers, you are my _hero_ ,” echoed words she had spoken before, hoping Kara would remember that moment which had been a turning point in their relationship, at least for Lena it was. Kara was, well, a late bloomer. 

Pulling back, Kara grinned down at Lena. “Funny, I think you already used that line on me before.”

“Oh, did I?” Lena’s eyes went wide as if she didn’t already know the answer to the question. “Well, did it work then?” 

“Yep.” Kara crossed her arms over her chest in her attempt to look intimidating (she failed).

“Is it working now?” Lena asked with a smirk, letting her fingers purposely slide up and down Kara’s forearm.

“Yep.” Craning her head down, a soft pink hue tinted her cheeks as the girl of steel did her best to avoid Lena’s intense gaze; eyes filled with love, desire, and remorse. Her body longed to move forward and grasp Lena's hand in hers, pull her up in her arms and walk them into Lena's bedroom. However, Kara knew now was certainly not the time as they had more pressing issues to solve before they could explore the more physical parts of their relationship in a healthy way.

_Take off, I'm staring at the ground._

“Thank you.” it was three simple words, yet Kara understood that Lena was grateful for everything past and present, and perhaps even future.

With a nod, Kara walked backwards as she spoke: “Good night, Miss Luthor.”

Once again Lena was left alone, and though this particular evening didn’t end in a screaming match and she didn’t have to wonder if they could ever mend their relationship while she watched Kara fly away, there was still a road less travelled ahead of her that she would need to cross. If not only for herself, then at least for Kara.

Kara never once gave up on her even through all the horrible things Lena had done these past months. Even when she lost sight of who she was and stopped listening to her heart and let her broken heart speak horrible thoughts into her mind, even when she stole Miriad and planed to ‘gently’ mind control the entire world, Kara continued to fight for her. Lena didn't know where to start, but she had to admit that, despite herself, therapy might not be such a crazy idea after all. 

_I'm stuck, I'm stuck, I'm stuck with you._


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize in advance for what you're about to read, I was highly caffeinated when I wrote this.
> 
> The song quoted is "2 In A Million" by Steve Aoki, Shaed & Sting.

_You said what are the chances we found each other through the madness?_

It was a regular day in National City; the sun was shining and unknown lifeforms were relentlessly attacking citizens while our favourite hero worked very hard to exterminate the pests before they tore everything to shreds. 

They were small in stature, nearly three feet tall, with sharp claws and even sharper teeth. The worst part was their loud shrills of what Kara could only imagine was excitement? There were roughly twenty of them, jumping from civilian to civilian rapidly as if they had secretly discovered the world’s largest supply of cocaine and dove in, nostrils first.

 _Do they even have nostrils?_ Kara thought, red embers glowing around her eyes as she burned a hole through one of them.

“Supergirl, is everything alright on your end?” Alex’s familiar voice filtered through the coms in her ear. The redhead was on the ground with other DEO soldiers, smacking around the little buggers left and right. A very satisfying workout, Alex thought solemnly.

“Yep,” Kara spoke through gritted teeth. She was flying a few meters off the ground, effortlessly clutching to a minivan that held a family of five over her head while she used her heat vision on the scanty green aliens who had attempted to overrun this sector early in the day. “Almost done roasting these little-“

“Great,” Alex cut her off sharply, impatience clearly evident in her tone. “I’m patching Lena in.”

“Ok-Wait, what?” Kara frowned but remained focused on the task of frying the pesky aliens who ran wild in the streets. _What does Lena have to do with this?_

“Hey, darling,” Lena’s rich voice greeted.

“Hi, Miss Luthor.” Her tone was formal, usually reserved when they had to interact in public or at the DEO amongst the agents who weren’t aware of her secret identity.

“Don’t sound so uptight, _Supergirl_ , they can’t hear us,” she teased, knowing Kara could hear the smirk on her lips.

“Kinda busy here,” Kara shot back quickly, immediately stuttering an apology when it came out a little too hostile. “N-not that I’m not glad to talk to you! I was wondering how your day was going but then Alex called and there was an emergency and-“

“Are you free for lunch?” Lena asked in between chuckles, laughing fondly as Kara tripped over her words. Instead of an answer, there was a loud screeching noise like metal protesting loudly against whatever was manhandling it. “What was that _horrible_ noise?” The woman inquired curiously.

“Sorry, I just put the van I was holding back down,” Kara explained as she turned to the family who all sported looks were a weird mix of awe and fear, but nonetheless the driver managed to speak their gratitude to the superhero. “My pleasure, stay safe!” Kara waved at them and turned around, a playful smirk tugged the corner of her lips. “So, lunch, Miss Luthor?”

“Lunch,” Lena breathed in a voice that was filled with the promise of something more; a promise that quickly became a secret code of sorts. Kara jumped up and took the quickest route to L-Crop, though every route was the quickest when you were faster than a speeding bullet. 

Although, she had an odd feeling she was forgetting something.

_I know what you're feeling, I do, 'Cause you know I'm feeling it too._

* * *

Kara pushed Lena back against her desk as they attacked each other’s mouths, insecurity and modesty flew out of the window the moment Kara flew in the office. Lena’s legs instinctively wrapped themselves around Kara’s waist, pressing their bodies impossibly closer together. Kara braced herself on the desk, afraid the frail piece of furniture would break beneath her when Lena did that thing with her tongue that she liked (liked being the understatement of the year).

Lena’s fingers curled around the collar of Kara’s dress shirt, which was still neatly tucked into her dark maroon slacks, but not for long. She pulled Kara forward, swallowing the drawn-out groan that came from the other woman and deepened the shamelessly passionate embrace. 

_No pill gets me higher than you._

These ‘lunches’ started a few weeks ago and quickly turned into a daily habit. The first time it happened Kara had flown in, _on a bus,_ Lena mused to herself (not that she still held a grudge against the lie). The way the pale blue button-down fit her so perfectly, the cute rosy tint to her cheek and the aloofness to how truly beautiful she was nearly drove Lena crazy; so she really couldn’t be blamed for starting this whole thing. 

The second time, Kara flew in hair and cape dripping with what Lena assumed was only water (it wasn’t). She didn’t even have time to ask her what had happened when Kara swiftly scooped the woman up in her arms and lowered them both on the white leather couch. Lena still hasn’t forgiven her for ruining her favourite business suit with mud and other unknown substances. 

Lena’s breath hitched in her throat when she felt slender fingers slip under her skirt and burn a path upwards in an agonizingly slow pace. Breaking apart from the kiss, Lena gripped the back of Kara’s head, her breathing erratic as her lips brushed against Kara’s ear. 

_We're getting faster, I can't imagine wanting to slow down._

Kara’s fingers stopped moving once they had almost reached their goal, and Lena could only murmur a soft: “why?”

“Someone’s coming up here.” The superhero's hearing picked up an even heartbeat, which was a sharp contrast to both of the women’s rapid pulse, accompanied by the loud thunk of boots hitting the marble floor of the hallway leading to Lena’s office. She immediately recognized her sister’s footsteps. “Alex,” she breathed with surprise.

“What?” Not only was Lena confused about the reason Alex would come visit her over lunchtime, but she was also quite sure she made it clear to her assistant to not let anyone interrupt her ‘lunch’ with Miss Danvers.

She felt Kara’s strong hand on her lower back, the other grasping her hand as Kara pulled them into a standing position and quickly started to fasten buttons she had tirelessly worked to undo earlier, while Lena worked on straightening the collar of Kara’s shirt. 

“Why would she come here unannounced?” Lena asked, brows furrowed to display her clear irritation. She buckled Kara’s belt and neatly pushed the blouse back into her partner’s pants.

“We’re about to find out,” Kara groaned, equally unhappy with the sudden interruption. She Smoothed down Lena’s skirt, while Lena slipped her glasses back on mere seconds before the large double doors of her office opened and Alex stepped inside.

 _Talk about cutting it close,_ Kara celebrated silently, though it was slightly premature.

They didn’t even bother breaking apart from each other, wearing similar guilt-ridden expressions as if there was a red neon sign flashing ‘BUSTED’ over their heads. 

“Director Danvers! To what do I-we owe you the pleasure?” Lena asked with a friendly smile, her voice even and professional as usual, keeping up appearances even though she tripped over her words (a very rare occurrence).

Crossing her arms over her chest, Lena chanced a quick glance at Kara and paled when she saw the clear traces of her red lipstick on the corner of the woman’s lips. Discreetly, Lena elbowed Kara in the ribs and directed her eyes to the pair of lips in question.

And with the most unnatural cough, our not so subtle hero turned around, quickly plucking a tissue out from the box that sat on the corner of Lena’s desk and furiously wiped the lipstick off of her mouth. _Oh God, she knows. That’s it. It’s over. She’s going to kill me for not telling her._ For a fleeting moment, Kara thought about faking an emergency of the ‘I hear someone in trouble’ variety, but she couldn’t leave Lena to deal with her sister alone.

Alex did her best not to look completely mortified. _Keep your cool Danvers. Keep your cool._ “I was looking for Kara, actually, we were supposed to have lunch together.” 

_That’s what I was forgetting._ “Oh shoot! I totally forgot. I am _so_ sorry, I was - I mean, we were just-And it slipped my mind.”

“Why don’t we all go to lunch together?” Lena asked and noticed the tension in Kara’s shoulder visible dissipate. That was much better than what she wanted to say at first, which was something along the lines of ‘she was going to slip into something alright’, which is precisely the moment she realized Kara did actually make her go absolutely insane. 

Nervously fiddling with her prescriptionless glasses, Kara readjusted them over her eyes as she smiled brightly at Lena. “Y-yes, great idea! We’ll take my car,” she spoke hastily, wanting to get out of this situation as fast as possible. _God, this is so awkward. Kill me._ She walked past Alex, avoiding her stare at all costs. _This is it. This is the day that my sister murders me. I won’t even be able to cover the story, because I’ll be dead._

“Sounds good to me,” Alex nodded with a tight-lipped smile. She followed Kara out, though she kept a more casual pace than her sister who seemingly turned into a formula one racer the moment she saw her. _I did not just walk in on what I think I just walked in on, right?_

Lena made a point of sending a harsh glare at her assistant on the way out. Going for lunch with the Danvers sisters with a serious case of blue balls, minus the balls and the discoloration, was hardly what she envisioned doing for lunch. 

Kara. Kara is who she envisioned doing for lunch.

* * *

“So,” Alex leaned forward from her position on the backseat of Kara’s small car. “I know you two are banging.” 

“ALEX!” Kara shouted, her mouth agape with shock. Her surprise was mostly due to Alex’s choice of words, as Kara was well aware they had been busted long before she called them out. If only because of the looks her sister had been shooting at her from the backseat since they got in the car; narrowed eyes and smug grins.

Lena couldn’t hold in her laughter when Kara turned to her with the cutest deer in headlights look she had ever seen, made better by the pout she had no doubt perfected over the years. Well, nonetheless, the gig was up so there was no use pretending anymore. 

“Listen, I’m not an idiot. You had Lena’s lipstick all over your mouth when I came in.” 

“I-but we-I thought-“

“Wrong,” Alex shot back with a smug grin. “And Lena,” the Director turned to the smiling woman, who seemed mostly unphased by this whole conversation. “Your assistant knows. She told me you two have been having ‘lunch’ together for several weeks now - and yes, she did air quotes around the word ‘lunch’ too. She also said I should knock first, but...“ Trailed off, letting Kara connect the dots herself out of pure evil pleasure.

“You knew I’d hear you,” Kara answered with a deflated sigh. Outplayed at her own game. 

“Traitor,” Lena hissed under her breath at the thought of her assistant. She wondered if public execution was still frowned upon. Deciding it was probably not a good idea (probably), Lena placed her arm on Kara’s bicep and trailed her hand down to grasp her wrist, coaxing her hand off the wheel as she laced their fingers together.

Kara readjusted her other hand, resting it on the middle of the wheel in order to make steering with one hand easier. “I’ve been meaning to tell you but I just didn’t know _how_ to tell you exactly.“

“Cat got your tongue? Or in this case, Lena.”

Lena laughed out loud at the frustrated huff Kara made, followed by a fierce blush and an adorable pout. She brought their joined hands into her lap, chuckling as she spoke: “I like her.” _Even if she did point a gigantic DEO weapon at me once._ Lena was totally over it. No, seriously.

“It’s fine Kara,” Alex placed a gentle hand on her sister’s shoulder. Though she enjoyed teasing her, she was truly happy for Kara. Of course, she never would have guessed it would be Lena Luthor out of all people, and she certainly never wanted to find out in such a traumatic way either. But this was not ‘dwell on your recent trauma time’, it was ‘supportive sister time’. “You were right to wait until you felt comfortable enough to tell me. I understand that more than anyone, and I would have never pushed you to say anything.”

“I know, but I should have said something sooner,” Kara’s eyes snapped up, locking eyes with Alex through the rearview mirror. “I just didn’t know how you’d react and I was being completely ridiculous, of course, you went through this,” Kara said and made a vague motion with her hand, gesturing between her and Lena, “way before I even realized it was a _thing_ I was into.”

“She babbled to me about it every single day,” Lena accused, though adoration swept through pale green eyes. She brought Kara’s hand up to her mouth and laid a kiss on the skin below.

“Hey! Who’s side are you on?” Kara found that the prickling of Lena’s soft lips on her skin made it extremely difficult to stay mad at her.

“What? It’s cute,” Lena defended with a shrug.

Kara groaned, very loudly and dramatically, might I add. 

“You can make it up to me by paying for my lunch,” Alex said with a grin.

“Done!” Kara agreed happily.

“And by giving me _all_ the details,” she added with a mischievous glint shining in her vibrant, brown eyes.

Kara took her eyes off the road momentarily, smiling at Lena, silently asking for her opinion on the matter. “It’s a long story,” she replied after Lena squeezed her hand encouragingly. 

“I’m listening,” Alex beamed as she leaned forward and propped her elbows on the center console, dropping her head in her hands.

* * *

Later that day, Kara sat behind her desk at CatCo when she caught a headline from a competing media outlet. It read “ _Supergirl Eats Out With Lena Luthor - Secret Lunch Exclusive!_ ” 

Kara, absolutely terrified, sent the link via text to Lena. The reply she got was: 

_L.L: Oh my, it looks like I’m cheating on you, my dear_ 😉

Kara really shouldn’t have taught her how to use emojis, knowing she’d only use them for evil.

 _K.D:_ 😤😤😤😤😤😤😤

_L.L: Are you pouting? God, please tell me you’re pouting._

Against her better judgment, Kara quickly snapped a picture and sent it.

 _L.L: Is it lunchtime yet?_ 🥴🥴🥴

_K.D: Lena, please, this is serious._

_L.L: I’ll make it go away_ 😘

K.D: ❤️ 🧡 💛 💚 💙 💜😳🤩🤓🥺 

It didn’t go away. 

_We're two in a million._


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A little smut for y'all since I kinda left y'all hanging in the last chapter. Also fluff, lots of it.

Kara settled atop Lena, pushing into her with a fervent kiss as their laboured breaths mixed together. Bracing herself on her forearm, Kara propped herself up slightly as she broke away from Lena’s demanding mouth, sliding her fingers tips down the woman’s stomach. A grin spread across her face as she felt the muscles twitch under her attentive touch. 

Taking hold of the toy in between them, which was securely fastened around Kara’s taught waist, she guided it to Lena’s entrance and removed her hands as she pushed her hips forward, tantalizingly slow and teasing. 

Kara’s blue eyes followed the length Lena’s throat as her head rolled back against the pillow beneath her, enjoying the way the movement of her hips elicited a deep moan from Lena’s slightly parted lips. 

Her back arched up as Kara’s weight sank into her, trapping her and yet setting her free. Lena opened her legs further as she took in the full length of the toy inside of her. 

Kara felt Lena’s nails dig into her back, the pain she should feel was non-existent and the red marks left behind disappeared as quickly as they appeared. She knew Lena was beckoning her closer, begging her to pick up the pace with every upward thrust of Lena's hips.

The girl of steel was an immovable object, at least for a human, but Kara let herself be pulled down by Lena’s insistent hands. Hooking her hand under the back of Lena’s knee, she lifted the leg up against her hip, getting a much better angle as she moved a little faster inside of her.

For the first time in a long time, Kara wasn’t thinking about what she could accidentally break in her lusty haze, nor afraid of all the ways she could hurt Lena as she came. It had been a great concern of hers when their relationship started getting more physical and past the 'making out like teenagers' phase. Eventually, with Lena’s encouragement and understanding, she started to trust herself as much as Lena did. 

Craning her head down, Kara’s lips followed the length of Lena’s throat, trailing a path up a defined jaw and then captured her loud moan in a sloppy kiss.

They both groaned in each other’s mouths as Lena’s hands found their way on Kara’s ass, once against silently communicating what she needed from Kara. Lena’s breath hitched as Kara propped herself up once more, her hand gently pressing into Lena’s collar bone while her other hand gripped the bedsheets under the pillow.

Lena’s breathless groans mixed in the with the pressure quickly building at the base of her spine with every hard drive of her hip was almost enough to bring Kara over the edge. Not wanting it to end right away, however, she stalled her movements abruptly enough for Lena to move her head up and give her an inquisitive look.

Kara flipped them both over with little effort until Lena was the one straddling her hips. Lifting her back off of the bed, Kara pressed a warm hand into the dip of Lena’s back and moved her other arm behind her, pressing down into the mattress even though she had more than enough strength to keep them balanced without it.

Lena wrapped her arms around Kara’s broad shoulders, green eyes lovingly peering down into blue ones that mirrored her exact emotions. Quiet understanding passed between them and a smirk tugged the corner of Lena’s red lips as she moved her hips against the length of the strap inside of her.

Kara’s eyes darkened as Lena took complete control, moving her hips in tandem with Lena at the pace she had set for them. Their eyes remained locked in an intimate embrace, their hips meeting slowly as they enjoyed every pleasant sound and touch; unhurried to reach their collective goal.

Lena snaked a hand behind Kara’s head, fingers threading into blonde curls. She moved her other hand directly on Kara’s shoulder to brace herself while she arched her back into Kara, riding the toy quickly as she suddenly found herself desperately needing to release the pressure that had built up.

Kara came first, and with a sharp thrust of her hip, she felt Lena coming undone against her, letting out a deep groan of satisfaction. Kara let out a loud and embarrassing growl, the arm she had planted behind her was shaking as she did her best to keep her strength at bay, though it was all fruitless as she felt one of the bed’s legs crack under the pressure.

Kara’s eyes bugged out as she steadied Lena’s body on top of her. “Shoot! Lena, are you okay? Did I hurt you?” Her words were hurried and her tone was apologetic. 

Lena’s form slumped against Kara’s solid body, her nose pressed into the crook of the woman’s neck as she waited for the erratic beating of her heart to slow down. 

Kara felt Lena move her head from side to side, finally answering her question. “Are you sure?” She asked, her brow scrunched up as her fingers slowly glided up and down Lena's back. She could clearly hear the loud thud of Lena’s heart slowly steadying and almost beating at a more normal rate. “We fell and I hope I didn’t - with the -”

“Darling,” Lena chuckled as she picked up her head from Kara’s shoulder and smiled lovingly at the worried expression on Kara’s face. “There was absolutely no pain involved, I assure you.” 

Apparently satisfied with her answer, Kara let herself fall on her back with an exasperated sigh.

“Do they make Kryptonian-proof beds?” Lena asked, a curious grin on her lips as her hungry eyes all but devoured Kara’s muscular and very naked body under her.

“They should. It’s hard to control my strength when you’re on top of me like that, and I’m -” Kara trailed off, feeling a blush creep up her cheeks. 

Lena chuckled again, letting her hands travel up a well-toned stomach. She still found it completely endearing when Kara was shy about the sex they just had, while she still inside of her. “Having the best orgasm of your life?” Lena offered.

Kara propped herself up on her forearms, her eyes slowly tracing every curve of Lena’s body before they locked onto green eyes. “Someone's feeling cocky,” she teased with a confident yet timid smile. 

“No, that’s all you honey,” Lena settled her hands back onto Kara’s shoulders, moving her hips to illustrate her point.

“Stop,” Kara groaned in protest, though her hands reached out to hold Lena’s hips instinctively. “The bed’s already broken,” she cautioned needlessly.

“Maybe we can even it out?” Lena offered with a mischievous glint in her eyes. Without a warning, she lifted her hips up and pushed herself down against the toy, moaning as Kara’s hips pushed upwards instantly.

Kara slammed her fist down into the mattress from the unexpected movement, and another leg gave out instantly. “Fuck!” She let out a very rare curse, while Lena fell on top of her in a heap of laughter. 

Kara held Lena to prevent her from rolling off of the bed, which was now completed slanted towards the ground as both legs on the right had broken off.

“Let’s just put the mattress on the floor.” Lena laughed heartily as she moved forward to kiss Kara’s pout away. 

“S’not funny,” Kara mumbled against her lips.

* * *

Kara chuckled as she replied to the text her sister had just sent in the self-titled ‘Game Night’ group chat. They had been taking bets and bantering back and forth all day, which certainly made the day go by quicker but it was far from productive on her end. 

They sent selfies with rude gestures, and much to everyone’s surprise so did Lena. 

Kara let out a loud laugh, covering her mouth with her hand to muffle the rest of her amusement as she stared down at the picture of Lena on her phone. Clearly in her office, Lena had an exaggerated snarl on her face as she flipped them the bird.

 _A.D: Oh, you’re going down Luthor!!!_ 🥊

_L.L: You wish, sweetie._

K.D: 😂 😂 😂 😂 😂 😂 😂 😂 

_A.D: You’re not going to defend your one and only sister?? WOW_

_K.D: For the last time, I am not picking a side!!_ 😩

 _N.N: I would take Lena’s side too if she gave me bed-breaking sex_ 🤷🏻‍♀️

_A.D: OMG, I AM LEAVING THIS CHAT!!!!!_

_K.D:_ 😳

 _L.L:_ 😉😏 🍑👏

Kara saw the text bubbles pop up again so she turned her phone face down. Kelly and Alex had come over for dinner the day after the incident, and of course, Kelly had questioned where her bed frame was and why the mattress was on the floor. When Kara stammered an explanation no one bought it, not even Kara herself.

Alex downed her glass of wine with wide eyes in realization, while Lena chuckled into her glass and winked at Kara, who’s cheeks got even redder. They hadn’t spoken of it since, up until Nia brought it up in the group conversation they were having now.

Kara picked up her phone again and read the messages that had been exchanged since she had last looked, and immediately she wished she hadn’t.

 _N.N:_ 🍆 

_L.L:_ 💦

Alex was yelling at them in all caps to stop, while Kelly happily chimed in that there was nothing to be ashamed about. 

_K.D: I hate all of you._ _Alex, bring Catan. And Nia, you’re in charge of snacks for tonight._

Two thumbs up popped up in the conversation and Kara decided to focus on her work for the rest of the afternoon, desperately pretending her sex life was still very much a secret to her friends, as it should be.

* * *

“I’ll trade you two wheat for two sheep,” Lena offered on her turn.

“No thank you,” was Kara’s curt response. 

“I know you need the wheat,” Lena spoke in an even and professional tone as if this transaction was going to greatly alter the course of the game.

“You know what I want, do you?” Kara grinned teasingly.

“Well,” Lena arched a brow, holding her cards in front of her almost conspiratorially, “what’s your counter-offer?”

“Two wheat and two rocks,” Kara answered and took a long pull from her beer, although her eyes remained trained on Lena.

“Are you insane?” Lena shot back.

“Do you want to build your settlement or not?” Kara pressed, pushing her glasses up her nose with her index finger in a motion that had become a habit.

“I do, but I don’t want you to build your city,” Lena unveiled the root of her plan and the reason behind the pretty shitty deal she was offering Kara.

“Look like we’re at a stalemate then, Miss Luthor.”

“This is not over, Miss Danvers.”

“Okay, moving on,” Alex said with a tight-lipped smile as she grabbed the dice and rolled them. “Eight,” she said after quickly counting the value on the dice’s faces. 

“More wheat for me!” Kara exclaimed as she happily collected yet another wheat card from Kelly.

Lean threw her head back with a loud groan. “Of course.”

“I’ll take two of your woods for a wheat and a rock Kara,” Nia said all too sweetly. She grinned at Lena while she placed the wood Kara handed to her into her hand.

Kara then exchanged her cards to Kelly, who gave her a city game piece and as she placed it near Lena’s road, completely blocking her path, she felt a piece of popcorn collide against her temple. When she looked up at Lena, it was with dangerously narrowed eyes.

“What?” Lena feigned innocence as she hid her grin in her half-empty glass of scotch.

“Don’t you start,” Kara warned.

“I didn’t start anything, darling.” Although that wasn’t entirely the truth, they were both to blame here and that much was clear. Everyone’s eyes were glued on the couple even though this behaviour was far from uncommon. 

Kara opened fire, declaring war as she threw a piece of popcorn back at Lena. It bounced off of her forehead and landed in her glass of scotch. 

Lena growled and grabbed a handful of popcorn, machine-gunning them at Kara, who did exactly the same in return.

Sighing, Alex got up with her glass and extended her hand towards Kelly to grab hers as well. She walked towards the kitchen and filled them both a little more than usual. 

When she turned around, there was popcorn all over the floor and Kara had let Lena wrestle her on the ground in a very compromising position. Nia and Winn were loudly cheering for Lena while Kelly chanted Kara’s name. 

“Did you forget rule number 1?” Alex pointed at the list hanging on Kara’s fridge. Besides the hand-written number one, it read: _Lena and Kara will keep their hands to themselves until everyone leaves_.

Kara watched Lena move off of her and pluck the piece of popcorn from her glass of scotch with a snarl. “If Lena would just give me her frigging rocks maybe I wouldn’t have to lean on physical persuasion,” Kara said with a pout as she moved to her earlier position around the coffee table.

“If I recall correctly, I was the one on top,” Lena commented with a wink.

Alex almost choked on her wine while everyone else burst out laughing. 

This was going to be a long night, Alex thought with great dismay. She began to think there wasn’t enough wine in the world to get her through this game night.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The one with 110% fluff.

Kara tried to focus on what Alex was excitedly talking to her about, but she recognized the distinctive sound of Lena’s heels clicking against the ground the moment the elevator landed on her floor, promptly losing track of what her sister was saying.

“I murdered Winn,” Alex said as she tilted the cup of wine to her lips. Kara had that faraway look in her eyes, a sign that she had picked up something of interest with her super hearing. _You got it bad, sis._

Alex was slightly revolted at the idea that she hadn’t noticed it before; the way Kara had always looked at Lena, the way her eyes had always been glued to the woman whenever she was in the room with her.

Kara nodded with a distracted smile, her ears picking up Lena’s strong and steady heartbeat. 

“Lena’s here, isn’t she?”

“What?” Kara asked, having only caught the last part of Alex’s question.

“You haven’t been listening to a word I said in the past five minutes,” Alex teased, throwing the pillow that was aimed directly at Kara’s head, and hit her mark perfectly. A chuckle escaped her lips when Kara pretended the pillow hit her hard enough to knock her back against the couch.

“Sorry,” Kara replied sheepishly. Her fingers toyed with her very messy bun, made messier by the projectile that had been thrown at her head, in an attempt to look semi-decent when Lena entered the apartment.

“No, it’s totally cute.” A beat. “In a very annoying way.”

Kara’s retort was cut off by the door opening. “Hello, Ladies,” Lena greeted, her tone lacking enthusiasm as she let herself in and immediately shrugged the dark jacket off of her shoulders.

Upon letting her blue eyes settle on Lena, Kara detected the exhaustion on her face, the way there was still an annoyed and stern set to her eyebrows and a visible tightness in her shoulders and upper back.

Kara extended her hand towards Lena, who squeezed it briefly and give her a small smile as she walked past both her and Alex on the couch, disappearing in the bedroom. She knew Alex’s eyes were on hers, but the urge to spring up from the couch and massage all the knots away from Lena’s back was almost too great to ignore.

Thankfully, Lena reappeared a few moments later with her hair free of the tight bun they had been constrained in all day, wearing a sweatshirt and a pair of joggers (although she wasn’t sure if they were hers or Kara’s clothes anymore).

Kara finished the last bit of her beer and leaned forward to set the empty bottle atop the coffee table as she moved off of the couch and walked towards Lena’s tired form. “I saved you a plate.” Kara’s smile perked up when Lena wordlessly walked into her arms.

Lena took a deep breath, both of her arms circled Kara’s waist tightly and immediately dropped her head on Kara’s collarbone as if to hide from this horrible day. “God I love you,” she breathed, lips gently pecking at the soft skin below. She felt Kara press a kiss on the top of her head in response. 

Regretfully leaving the warm and comfortable confines of Kara’s embrace, Lena made her way into the kitchen to warm up her food and pour herself a well-deserved glass of wine. 

Kara plopped back down on the couch, perfectly content watching Lena move around in her kitchen with ease and familiarity. Alex pointed out how Kara had rubbed off her barbaric eating habits on Lena, who was currently annihilating the food on her plate, while Kara simply grinned proudly at the incredible woman she had been dating for over four months.

After some back and forth, Alex stood up with her empty wine glass and made her way towards the kitchen island Lena was seated at.

Without looking up, Lena took hold of the wine bottle and generously poured it into the cup Alex had set on the counter as if it was a perfectly established routine. Which, all things considered, wasn’t that far from the truth. 

Alex leaned forward on her elbows, a genuine smile stretching across her face. “Kara and I were just talking about Karaoke night at the dive bar.”

“If you’re thinking of inviting me,” Lena said between mouthfuls before she could realize what she was doing, “the answer is ‘absolutely not’.” _Talking with food in my mouth? Mother would be so proud._

“Lena,” Kara let out a not-so-uncommon whine. “You have to come.”

“I do _not_ ,” Lena replied sharply and turned her phone off with a sigh. Kara always told her she shouldn’t read her emails when she was eating, and perhaps she was right. With the day she had, reading yet another _stupid_ line from a _stupid_ investor wanting to propose something, you guessed it, _stupid_ , nearly sent her into a fit of rage. 

“If you’re not going, then I’m not going either,” Kara said with finality as she crossed both of her arms over her chest in defiance.

 _Ugh, Children_. “No, hey, no. We are _not_ doing this,” Alex warned, her eyes jumping between both women. “You’re _both_ coming and that’s final.”

“I can’t sing,” was said in lieu of a very dirty joke that would have gotten her a glare from Alex and a blush from Kara. Knowing it was the biggest lie she ever told, Lena focused on the remaining food on her plate instead of chancing a glance at Kara, who was most likely shooting daggers her way.

She absolutely was.

“Clearly you haven't heard Kara sing,” Alex said with a snort of laughter that was a tad too loud. _I’m getting pretty tipsy._

“I have, actually,” Lena spoke as she slipped off of the stool to put the dirtied dishes away. “Your sister likes to pretend to serenade me in the shower every morning,” she explained with a grin even though her back was turned to both of them.

Now she _definitely_ knew Kara was glaring at her.

“I _pretend_ to serenade you?” Kara’s mouth hung open, hand pressed against her chest as if wounded by the jab at her absent singing skills. “It’s clearly working if you’re still here,” she remarked with a wink.

“If that’s all you had to offer, I would have left a long time ago,” Lena shot back, aiming right for the heart with that comment. She fetched Kara another beer from the refrigerator, plucking the cold bottle from the second shelf.

Alex laughed into her glass and spilled some onto her hand as well as the counter. _Oops._

“You did not just say that!” Kara expressed flippantly.

Lena’s reply was a simple yet effective raised eyebrow as she walked towards Kara, almost challenging her to fight her on this. 

Unbeknownst to Lena, Kara accepted the duel and had her own dirty tactics ready to go. “It’ll be fun, and we could sing a duet together!” Kara added with the sweetest smile she could muster, “please?” _Got ‘em._

Who was she kidding? She couldn’t say no to Kara when she was beaming at her with that lazy and yet, effortlessly stunning smile. Sighing melodramatically, Lena resigned herself to a life of torture at the hands of not one, but two Danvers.

Kara accepted the offered drink and rested her free arm on the back of the couch, a silent offer that could possibly be seen as a truce, even though she _totally_ won that fight. 

“Fine,” Lena sighed as she settled down against Kara’s side, letting the familiarity of the strong body dissolve all of the day’s stress away. _You may have won the fight, but the war is still anyone’s game_. “However, I am _not_ singing.”

“We’ll see about that,” Kara murmured into the beer bottle pressed against her lips.

“What was that?” Lean turned her head, tired eyes landing on brilliant blue ones.

“I said, sounds good to me,” Kara replied in an overly chirpy tone and leaned down to place a quick peck on Lena’s lips.

Lena rose a skeptical brow but dropped it. For now.

Kara’s eyes scanned the room for Alex when there was no distinctive gagging sound when she kissed Lena. She found her sister peering down at her phone, glaring dangerously at it. _Is she drunk?_ Kara began counting how many glasses she witnessed her sister drink since dinner when Lena’s rich voice broke her out of her thoughts.

“Where’s Kelly?” Lena inquired and took a sip of her drink, well on her way to finishing her second glass already.

Alex propped her head up in her hand, her expression was like a cross between a sad puppy and an angry sloth; big brown eyes were unfocused and slightly glazed over, coupled with a very prominent pout - the Danvers special Lena called it - and a deep frown. “She was working late tonight too.”

“Andreas is nothing if not a perfectionist,” Lena offered insight into the woman she had considered her best friend, and somehow that part of her life seemed like a distant memory. So far away, in fact, it felt like it had happened to someone else entirely.

“I just wish she could do that without stealing my girlfriend away every night.” With a deep, longing sigh, Alex joined the pair on the couch. Or rather, threw herself on the unsuspecting furniture. 

“Do you need me to yell at her?” Lena offered with a slight chuckle, though realistically, it would be completely inappropriate to give her girlfriend’s boss an earful to back up her sister which Lena had become close friends with. _Would it?_

“You know Lena, I’m really beginning to love you,” Alex expressed, pretending to swoon as if she was truly in love with the woman.

Lena laughed into her glass, her hand finding its way on Kara’s thigh to brace herself as she finished the contents of her cup. Her hand remained on the muscular leg, her thumb absently moving over the material of Kara’s pants. 

A shiver ran down her spine when Kara’s fingertips grazed the skin around her neck and shoulders. She desperately wanted to lean her head back against kara’s shoulder and let her finger massage the stress away, but out of respect for Alex, she let herself enjoy the soft attention of Kara’s fingers instead.

Willing her brain to function, Lena replied: “Finally, my goal of charming both Danvers sisters has finally been accomplished.”

“I don’t share,” Kara replied simply as the warmth of Lena’s hand on her tight pulled her attention away momentarily.

“Sharing is caring, Kara,” Alex winked at Lena, who returned the gesture with a laugh.

Kara chuckled and shook her head, standing up with one quest in mind: getting herself another beer. Sometimes she wished she could feel its effects even if a drunk superhero with her powers was more dangerous than fun. She grabbed Lena’s empty cup as well, her quest counter going up by one.

“Scotch?” Kara inquired over her shoulder while crossing the short distance from the living room to the kitchen.

Lena gave Kara a nod and wistfully turned her attention away from Kara’s backside to Alex. “I do hope they are coming close to completing the VR lenses project.”

“I’m not sure I’m sold on the whole idea of a virtual reality going out to the public,” Kara explained as she walked back with both drinks in hand. Lena’s fingers momentarily brushed against hers when Kara passed her the glass, and though it was a simple touch with no deeper implication, they both shared a knowing look. 

“Thank you, darling,” Lena whispered, sinking comfortably into Kara’s side once she sat back down next to her. “What do you mean?” Lena asked, curious eyes falling on Kara.

“Everyone is already so lost in technology,” Kara gestured towards the three phones laying face down on the coffee table to accentuate her argument. “Wouldn’t a virtual world encourage people to not actually hang out together anymore?”

After a somewhat lengthy philosophical discussion about human interaction, physical closeness and the very grey areas of crime-fighting, Alex was entirely too tipsy to focus and ended the debate with: “Well, I might have to invest in a pair to actually spend time with my girlfriend.”

“You could even make yourself taller and stronger,” Kara accentuated both words with an exaggerated puff of her chest, making both women beside her grin into their cups.

“That’s not a bad idea,” Alex pointed at her sister with a raised brow, which immediately turned into a frown. “Hey, are you saying I’m not tall enough?” 

Kara held her hands up in the air, and Lena turned towards her with a stern look, “Own up to your shit, Danvers.”

After what felt like a very tense moment between them, all three women dissolved into a fit of laughter. Kara had cracked first, of course. “What would you be like in a VR world?” She asked Lena after taking a long sip of the bottled malt liquor. Alcohol may not be strong enough to make her skin buzz, but it was refreshing at the very least.

“I wouldn’t change a thing. I rather enjoy where I am,” She replied with a genuine smile, which Kara mirrored instantly.

“You two are absolutely disgusting,” Alex gagged as her sister and Lena shared a sweet kiss.

And that’s how the first and only pillow fight of the night started.

* * *

Much later, Lena had fallen asleep with her head resting in Kara’s lap, her legs over Alex. Kara’s fingers absently played with the jet black strands of hair, mindful not to wake her up. Blue eyes traced a strong jaw, red lips and the gentle curve of a nose as if to burn every single detail into her mind.

“Do you think it’s weird?” Kara whispered, her eyes moving away from Lena’s softly snoring form to peer inquisitively into Alex’s perceptive brown eyes.

“What’s weird?” Though it was a question, she already knew. There was unmistakable happiness in her sister’s eyes, though she could clearly see the slight spark of fear shimmering in the darkly lit room.

“That Lena’s the only woman I’ve been in love with since I came to this planet?”

“Sometimes all it takes is one person to open your eyes and for everything to start falling into place.” Alex was no stranger to getting to know herself and her preferences after someone had set the spark that ignited a thousand questions. “That’s how it was for me with Maggie.”

“Yeah,” Kara breathed softly, letting her eyes rest on the peaceful expression on Lena’s face once again.

“Are you having doubts?” Alex asked carefully. Kara’s eyebrows instantly furrowed and she knew that wasn’t the reason behind her sister's questions.

“No. No, of course not,” Kara replied without a second thought. “I just hid my feelings for so long, thinking that it meant nothing. And instead of going to my sister, who went through the exact same thing, I just pushed them down even further.” _Like the oblivious idiot that I am._

Kara turned towards Alex, an apologetic smile on her face. “I’m really sorry about that. I wish I would have talked to you about it sooner.”

Alex shook her head, “It’s okay Kara. Like I said I would have never pushed you to tell me if you didn’t feel comfortable enough.” Even if it did hurt that she had to find out by accidentally catching them doing things she’d rather never think of again, Alex understood Kara’s hesitation. And, you know, the fact that Kara’s emotional barriers were more brutal to climb than an electrified fence.

“It’s not that, I would tell you anything you know that. I-I was stubborn and blind and didn’t want to admit it to myself,” Kara stumbled in her explanation despite wanting to be open and vulnerable; it was much easier to ignore feelings than to vocalize them.

“You are pretty stubborn when you want to,” Alex choked out, which sounded like a laugh at first until she felt the sting of tears in her eyes. _Pull yourself together, Danvers._

Kara’s head snapped up, brows drawn in worry. “Alex, why are you crying?”

Alex chuckled lightly as she wiped the tears out of her eyes with the sleeve of her shirt. “I’m sorry, I’m tired,” _and a bit drunk._

“Alex,” she pressed gently.

“I just miss you, that’s all.” Alex cut Kara off before she could say anything else. “And before you apologize, you have nothing to be sorry for. What you’re building here with Lena, it’s the real deal. You have nothing to be sorry for.”

“But I-”

“I’ve been focusing on my relationship too and I don’t think we should feel bad for that. _But_ , next time you ditch me for lunch to have secret dirty time with Lena, I _will_ smack you,” Alex warned with narrowed eyes, suddenly wondering why Kara appeared a little blurry. 

“Understood,” Kara laughed, squeezing her sister’s hand into her own. “Khap shovuh rrip,” she added softly in her native language. Tears welled up in her own eyes when Alex repeated the loving words perfectly.

* * *

The next morning, the pair was up early though it wasn't to do anything productive. “That was _super_ ,” Kara mumbled against Lena’s shoulder, the skin warm and damp from sweat. Her body was draped around Lena’s back, bed sheets tangled around them and bunched up between their bodies, though they hardly covered anything.

“God, could you be cornier?” Lena laughed as she pushed Kara’s face away, who gladly indulged her and went with the motion. It must be exhausting, Lena thought, always pretending as humans could actually move Kara with their own strength.

“Is that a challenge I hear?” Kara teased and wrapped her arms tighter around Lena’s body, instinctively shifting closer, pressing herself flush against Lena’s back.

“No, it’s not.” Lena knew where this was going, which also meant she knew her warning would do nothing to deter Kara from whatever she was about to say.

“You make me feel like I can fly,” she spoke with sweetness dripping from her voice, knowing the reaction she’d get out of Lena.

Groaning loudly, though this time not in pleasure Lena pushed at Kara’s arms, who instantly loosened her grip around her. “That’s it, I’m leaving you,” was said decisively, though the grin on her lips betrayed her. 

Moving off the bed, Lena covered her bare skin with the dark silk robe she plucked out of Kara’s clothes rack. _When did I bring this here?_ As she peered around Kara’s bedroom it was the first time Lena noticed how much of her wardrobe had made its way into her girlfriend’s apartment. 

It was a fleeting thought, one that brought about images of domestic bliss, but it was there long enough to _almost_ make her voice a thought that had been on her mind for a while now. _Let’s move in together._ Kara’s voice, however, interrupted her quiet musings.

“Whatever, I’ll have another you in a minute,” the blonde said with a nonchalant wave of her hand as she stretched her body and reached out to grab her phone from the nightstand, going along with the ruse.

“You did not just quote Beyonce to me while I’m _seriously_ fake breaking up with you,” Lena replied with mock-hurt, hands loosely trying the robe’s belt around her waist. 

“What are you gonna do about it?” Kara rose a challenging eyebrow, peering at Lena from behind her phone’s screen. Blue eyes watched Lena gather her hair into her hands and moving it all to one side as she brushed her fingers into it to untangle the knots. Kara resisted the urge to pull Lena back into bed. When their locked eyes, a sly smirk graced Lena's lips. _Yep, I’m done for._

“I’ll eat the leftover cake,” she whispered conspiratorially as if it was the vilest thing she could think of. And to Kara, it definitely was.

The blonde sat up in bed sharply, sensing her post-coitus meal was in grave danger. “You wouldn’t dare.”

“Try me,” Lena taunted with a wink. Slowly, she started backing up out of the bedroom and into the loft’s living room, green eyes dancing with mirth while holding Kara’s intense gaze. They both knew Kara could run to the fridge before Lena could even blink, but for some reason, Lena still decided to challenge her.

Kara used her super speed to move around her room, and seconds later, she stood dressed in boxer shorts and a large hoodie with her hair pulled up in a loose bun. “Lena please, if you cross this line then there’s no going back.” Barely able to hold in her laughter, Kara never took her eyes off of Lena as she stalked closer towards her with slow and tentative steps.

“I’ve made up my mind Kara, you’ll have to stop me yourself.” Lena continued backing up in the kitchen, navigating herself backwards with ease. She knew Kara was toying with her and could pounce at any moment. Without much planning, Lena turned and around and made a run for it, heading straight for the kitchen.

In a blur of movement, Kara ran past Lena and stopped in front of the fridge, putting her body on the line to protect its contents; hands on her hips in her trademark Supergirl pose.

“You’re cheating!” She accused, standing in front of Kara with her arms crossed over her chest and a slight tilt to her chin.

“Lena Luthor, step away from the cake.” Kara attempted to warn her sternly, but she couldn’t keep the grin off of her face. When Lena suddenly leaned forward to grab the refrigerator’s handle, Kara easily scooped her up in her arms.

Lena yelped, despite her best attempt not to, and quickly wrapped her arms around Kara’s shoulders. They both fell into a giggling mess on the couch, Kara settling on top of Lena.

Once their amusement died down, Lena’s hand spread on Kara’s cheek, her thumb tracing over her jaw, her chin, and her bottom lip. “I love you,” she whispered, her voice thick with emotion.

Kara mirrored Lena’s actions, her palm resting on Lena’s pale cheek, fingers gently brushing over her jaw as she moved agonizingly slow to close in the distance between them. “Uvrreosh khap _,_ ” Kara spoke in Kryptonian against Lena’s mouth. Though it was spoken more as a statement than a question and Kara didn’t let Lena answer as she deepened the kiss and swallowed her moan. 

Kara’s hand trailed down her neck, to her collar bone, and settled right above her heart. She could heart the quickened pulse clear as day, but feeling it beat under her hand washed a sense of peace belonging over her.

Covering Kara’s hand with her own, Lena tore her lips from Kara’s. Taking a deep breath, she asked: “What does that mean?” Lena absolutely loved in when Kara spoke Kryptonian to her, teaching her words by phonetically sounded out all the letters in the alphabet.

“Marry me?” Kara repeated, her voice just above a whisper. Closing her eyes, Kara let her forehead rest against Lena’s as she waited for an answer for what felt like hours. The pounding of Lena’s heart mixed with her own was almost deafening and Kara was pretty sure she missed the words that came out of the woman’s mouth.

Moments later, hungry lips were suddenly on hers, demanding and insistent, although Kara still had no idea what Lena’s answer was.

Lena pulled back sharply, eyes wide as if her brain had just registered Kara's question. "I need to get to the office," Lena hurriedly slipped out from under Kara's body and disappeared in the bedroom.

When Lena came back, dressed in a skirt and button down with her hair pulled back in a tight bun, they exchanged a kiss, both of them murmuring “I love you,” against each other’s lips. Lena was out of the door moments later, leaving Kara wondering if she somehow hadn’t gotten this planet’s marriage proposal right. 


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The one where Lena has a panic attack about a marriage proposal and Kara is the cutest dork on this planet.

“Miss Luthor, Joseph Carver of McCullock Technologies is here to see you.” Joseph took a seven-hour flight to meet with her in person at L-Corp, in National City. They could have had a video conference and discussed Carver’s proposal, and that fact alone indicated the meeting held more importance than a simple ‘you help me, I help you, let’s shake hands now’.

Yet, all Lena could think about was how Kara had proposed to her this morning, seemingly out of the blue (excluding the fact that Lena was thinking about moving in together that very morning).

Lena kept her finger pressed down on the phone’s button as she spoke: “Have him seated in the conference room, I will be right there.” Her finger lifted off, cutting the line of communication between her and her assistant.

_Kara proposed._

A vicious headache threatened to throb at her temple at the countless scenarios her mind conjured up; none of them happy endings despite her best attempt at remaining positive. No, being positive was Kara’s job and she was damn good at it.

“Right away Miss Luthor,” the assistant’s voice sounded one more in the otherwise eerily quiet office before disappearing just as quickly. 

_Kara proposed._

Lena stood up from her leather chair, smoothing her hands down the material of her skirt needlessly. Troubled Jade-colored eyes stared down at the untouched glass of scotch conveniently sitting close to the arm of her chair. 

_Kara proposed and I left without saying a word._

Nervous fingers played with the buttons of her blouse near her stomach, willing the sense of unease to leave her so she could get through this meeting without having to run to the bathroom to throw up the breakfast she definitely didn’t have this morning. The race to the leftover cake was all but forgotten. 

_I left without answering. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid._

Lena grabbed the glass in a hurried motion as though she’d suddenly change her mind if she didn’t press the cold glass to her lips and tipped its contents into her mouth immediately, which she did.

_What if I hurt her?_

Kara hadn’t texted her this morning, and neither did Lena. The time stamp on their last conversation stared back at her almost taunting her to say something, to say _anything_. Changing her mind three times, then a fourth time, Lena typed a message and stared at it far too long before she hit send.

_L.L: Stuck in a meeting all day. Dinner tonight?_

Letting out a deep breath, Lena placed the phone down and the screen lit up when she received a new message shortly after. Kara’s name was displayed across the screen, or more accurately, way too many heart emojis surrounding Kara’s screen name. It wasn’t Lena’s doing to be sure, but she had never bothered to change it to something more neutral that didn’t scream ‘I’m aggressively in love with you’.

Lena swiped her index across the screen and read the message.

_K.D: My place or yours?_

Thinking she didn’t want any interruptions from any of the superfriends, not even Alex, Lena quickly typed her reply. 

_L.L: Mine. 7._

Kara sent a thumbs up, and another message.

_K.D: Have a great day. Love you!_

The corner of Lena’s lips twitched up into the beginning of what could possibly be a smile as she read the message and the dozens of kissy face emojis that followed. Lena replied with a simple red heart emoji, put the phone on silent mode and exited her office feeling marginally better about the trainwreck that was her psyche.

Sort of.

* * *

The meeting had dragged on treacherously slow, and Lena had to instruct her driver to ignore a few road laws or she’d be horribly late to dinner with Kara. When he protested, telling her he couldn’t possibly run red lights, Lena’s exact words were: “If you run through a red light you weren’t going fast enough.”

Lena sank back in the comfortable leather seat of the luxurious town car, rubbing at her temple; she dreaded seeing Kara all while desperately needing to sink into her embrace this very moment.

Joseph’s pitch was a complete company merger between L-Corp and McCullock Technologies, where the primary chair would be located in Capital City. Which meant Lena would have to move there or lose direct ownership and take on the role of Chief Operations Officer.

Supergirl couldn’t leave National City and Lena certainly wasn’t going to leave Supergirl. The realization alone made her understand how completely idiotic her panic at the thought of marriage had been.

Lena was prepared to make that commitment to Kara. That wasn’t the primary issue over, as every time Lena rehearsed what she was going to tell Kara, her thoughts conjured up more ways their relationship could crash and burn in the most dramatic fashion possible, as was the Luthor curse.

Lena tapped her phone’s screen once, the time read 7:15 pm. She exhaled a nervous breath and slipped her phone into her jacket’s pocket. Kara had told her she had secured takeout from their favourite Indian place in Gotham City after finishing up a routine rescue mission with Batwoman.

_What if she finds someone else?_

For the record, Lena was not the jealous type. She wasn’t one to scrutinize her partner’s interactions with every other human and alien alike just to fall into a cycle of paranoid delusions of something that wasn’t even there in the first place.

Lena was fully aware of Kara’s magnetic personality, gentle and caring mannerisms that made everyone feel like they were the center of the blonde’s attention. Still, that was not the object of her concern.

Out of all the possible suitors in National City, Lena couldn’t comprehend why Kara had chosen someone that had a checkered past of somewhat villainous inclinations, a murderous and xenophobic family over, _literally_ , anyone else. 

Someone who, regretfully, went completely insane at Kara’s perceived betrayal and almost destroyed any chance of reconciliation all because of her deeply rooted, and unresolved psychological issues.

Fishing the set of keys in her purse, Lena noticed how she had been standing in front of her apartment door for a while, lost in her anxiety-ridden thoughts in the quiet corridor. There was no way Kara hadn’t picked up on her erratic heartbeat, which meant she was patiently waiting for her inside with their meal rapidly growing cold. 

_What if she leaves me?_

Putting her keys away, Lena turned the unlocked door and let herself inside the apartment. Green eyes quickly scanned the living area and kitchen, finding Kara sitting on the couch near the fireplace, beer in hand and peering into the image of a mauve fire displayed on the electric firebox.

There was a glass of scotch on the kitchen island waiting for her, and though she couldn’t see the food she certainly could smell the heady aromas of cardamom, cayenne and tamarind that greeted her. 

“Hey, you,” Kara spoke, a soft smile etching itself on her face in. Most of the lights were off or dim, the fireplace casting the room in a soft purple hue.

“I’m so sorry, darling. Carver has absolutely no understanding of what ‘hell no’ means,” Lena draped her jacket on the back of one of the burgundy-coloured bar stools, dropping her bag on the same chair. 

“It’s okay,” Kara shook her head. “How did the meeting go?” Blue eyes watched Lena’s every movement, apprehensive, trying to predict how the conversation she knew they should have had this morning was going to do. 

“If I was a Kryptonian I wouldn’t be opposed to shooting myself with Kryptonite.”

Kara made a face. “That bad, huh?” Though she smiled, the lines on her forehead were drawn as every second they didn’t talk about her proposal, an uneasy feeling washed over her. Although, Kara didn’t want to pressure her after springing something like marriage without any previous conversation about it.

“Hungry?” Lena asked just as red lips wrapped themselves around the rim of the scotch glass, letting the strong and familiar liquor ease her nerves, rather unsuccessfully, might I add.

“Very,” Kara answered with a brilliant smile as she stood up and fetched their plates from the oven where she had stored them to conserve the heat. 

“Living room,” Lena nodded her head, kicking off her heels with a pleasurable groan and sinking back against the comfortable couch cushions. 

Kara tipped her glasses down her nose with her index finger, using her heat vision to warm up their meal before she set the plates down on the glass table in the common area. Taking a seat next to her, Kara let herself be pulled towards Lena as she tugged on the belt loops of Kara’s slacks. 

_Okay, so maybe she isn’t completely freaked out about it?_

“I know you must think I’m crazy, or that I asked in the heat of the moment, but I meant it, Lena,” Kara spoke sincerely, hoping to accurately convey what he had felt this morning; what she still felt now.

Lena turned towards her, uncharacteristically panicked as she finally voiced all of the worries that occupied most of her thoughts throughout the day: “What if we get married and someone out there connects the dots between Kara Danvers and Supergirl? We’ll be walking targets for every supervillain out there, not to mention the DEO could be at great risk.”

_Okay, so she’s completely freaked out about it._

“No one is going to figure out who Supergirl is,” she reassured softly.

“How can you be so sure?” Lena asked, skeptical that it was such an impossible scenario. 

_What if you’re killed because of me?_

“You’re one of the smartest people I know and you didn’t figure it out.” Kara knew that would have sparked anger in Lena in any other situation, and selfishly she hated to say she was thankful Lena was currently too freaked out to mention the jab at her deduction skills. 

Standing up abruptly, almost spilling the contents of her glass on the pristine creme-coloured carpet, Lena paced back in forth as she spoke in a very erratic fashion. “What if it doesn’t work out, or your mother hates me? What if you wake up one morning and decide to leave me, decide that I’m not worth it? What If-” 

Kara intervened immediately. Standing up, she grabbed the scotch glass, set it down on the glass table and gathered Lena’s shaking hands into her own; steady and calming. “Lena, we can stay up all night talking about what-ifs instead of actually living our lives. I know it’s easy to give in to fear, but in the past five years, I never had the time for romantic relationships because of who I am and because of the responsibilities I chose. I’m not here because I have to to be. I’m here because I want to be with you.”

There was sincerity in Kara’s voice, Lena didn’t doubt the love she had for her, what she doubted was herself. She couldn’t trust herself with Kara, she couldn’t trust that she wouldn’t eventually hurt her again. She couldn’t trust that her psychological issues wouldn't make Kara run for the hills and never look back. 

“All my life, people always wanted one of two things from me: power or money. You’ve always been the only one who genuinely wanted to be my friend. Who believed in me even when I didn’t. I let my defences down around you, around your sister, around your friends, and I-” Lena let her head drop against Kara’s collar bone, her voice shaking with emotions she wished she could speak eloquently. 

“And you’re wondering when I’m going to ask for half of your L Crop shares?” Kara laughed softly, bringing both of Lena’s hand up to her lips and pressed a gentle kiss on both of them.

Lena’s lips twitched slightly, appreciating Kara’s attempt to cut the tension of the moment. “I keep expecting the other shoe to drop, and every time it doesn’t, I let myself fall deeper and deeper in love with you. I’m scared and beyond terrified that I’ll lose you.”

“I’m not going anywhere,” Kara let go of Lena’s hands, letting her own drop on Lena’s hips and circling her waist.

Lena pulled back, her fingers loosely gripping Kara’s biceps. “You can’t possibly predict that.” Her eyes were searching, hoping Kara had the cure to her momentary insanity.

“Just like you can’t predict all the bad things you _think_ will happen,” the blonde countered with a raised eyebrow.

“Kara,” Lena whispered, wanting to argue the logic of that statement though she couldn’t find any counter-arguments. Her grip tightened around Kara’s arms, afraid if she lets go she’ll lose herself completely. 

Kara gently lifted Lena’s chin with her finger, “I can’t pretend like I know what’ll happen, but I do know that you’re the one for me. I asked you to marry me because I want _you_ and no one else.” 

“Are you sure this is the life you want?” Lena was used to the scrutiny of the media, and to a certain extent she knew Kara and Supergirl both were intimately acquainted with the media, although a Luthor wedding was sure to turn some heads and make some headlines. Reporters will badger her and they will badger Kara.

“Without the shadow of a doubt. I love you, Lena.” They stood in each other’s space, sharing a long moment of silence that seemed to stretch into eternity. Kara broke the silence, repeating this morning’s question with certainty: “Nim rrip uvrreosh khap?”

“Zhi.” When Kara looked surprised, it wasn’t the fact that Lena spoke in Kryptonian, but that her response was ‘yes’. The look of relief that flooded Kara’s features made Lena feel incredibly guilty about her dramatic reaction. 

There were about a million comforting words Kara wanted to speak. _We’re in this together. Don’t worry. I’ll always be here._ Cupping Lena’s face, Kara brought their lips together in a tender embrace to prevent herself from dissolving into a mess of happy tears.

Their noses brushed together when Kara moved back, holding a closed fist in between their bodies. “I got you something.”

“Kara,” Lena covered her hand, somehow knowing the absence of a box was Kara’s way of preventing her from freaking out further, (which did nothing to make Lena feel less guilty about her reaction).

“You don’t have to wear it right away if you don’t want to. I know engagement rings on earth are a big deal, but I got this made specifically for you.” She opened her hand, revealing the simple gold band. There was a barely visible indentation on the side of it and the Kryptonian letter ‘S’ engraved on top of the ring. “The signal watch is...”

“Bulky, unflattering and frankly, distasteful?” Lena offered with all the disgust she could muster. She couldn’t bring herself to actually wear the watch even though she had always kept it on her person at all times.

Kara chuckled, re-adjusting her glasses out of habit. “The ring will be easier to hide and it’s a little less obvious than a watch.” 

“Where did you even get this?” Lena asked, running her finger over the piece of jewelry, elegantly crafted into a simple band.

“We had a few ring prototypes at the DEO, I just had one pushed to production.” Kara’s cheeks flushed slightly at the memory of Alex’s teasing when she had found out; ‘A ring, huh?’ She had asked with a teasing smirk. Kara retorted that on Krypton bracelets were used for marriage ceremonies, and Alex quickly reminded Kara she was on earth and she was about to offer a human a golden ring.

Kara lost that argument.

“Can I?” Kara asked, holding the ring between her thumb and index finger.

Not trusting herself to talk, Lena answered with a decisive nod of her head and let Kara grasp her hand in hers; the skin warm and soft and most importantly, familiar. She slid the ring on Lena’s left hand, the piece of jewelry fitting perfectly on her finger. 

“To activate the signal all you have to do is close your fist and I’ll come running,” Kara said with a proud puff of her chest, the adorable yet charming giggle betrayed the poise she displayed in her trademark superhero pose.

Lena pressed her left hand onto Kara’s chest, over her heart, green eyes catching a glimpse of the golden ring on her finger, _that’s going to take some getting used to,_ she gathered silently. The strong pounding of Kara’s heart grounded her far more than she ever realized. “I would be so lucky to have Supergirl at my beck and call.”

“You already do, Miss Luthor.” Kara shot back as a jest even if her words weighed heavily in honesty. Faces inches apart, Kara could smell the sweet fragrance of Lena’s perfume that clung perfectly on her skin and the minty smell of the scotch on her breath. Their mouths met in a delicious and slow embrace.

Kara covered the hand atop her chest with her own and hums in the back of her throat when Lena’s tongue finds itself in her mouth. She feels Lena shift against her, pressing her backwards and Kara lets her. The back of her knees hit the couch and Lena’s on her lap in an instant.

“Do Kryptonians have any particular customs about post-engagement activities?” Lena inquires, teasingly running her lips along Kara’s jaw.

“What do you mean? I don’t think-” Lena cut her off, the rudeness of the interruption made moot by the sweet culpable lips that covered her own. Lena rolled her hips and drew her mouth back, Kara’s cheeks flushed instantly at the implication. 

“Oh,” she chuckled, the toothy grin on Lena’s lips wolfish in nature as if she was seconds away from making Kara her next meal. “Something on your mind?” Kara asked with her own teasing smirk.

“A few things,” Lena breathed in her ear, “but food first.” It was evil to be sure, but the pout Kara sported when Lena halted the blonde’s hands from unbuttoning her blouse was well worth it.

“R-Right, food,” Kara mumbled, swallowing hard. _Food_ , she wanted to scoff aloud, _who needs it, am I right?_

As Lena pressed a soft kiss on her cheek before she moved off of her lap, Kara decided this was definitely punishment for this morning, yet she was perfectly thrilled to be the martyr. 

  
  



	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The one where real plot things appear! 
> 
> Warning: there is mild torture in this one.
> 
> Kara and Lena dutifully ignore the responsibility of planning their wedding, while Supergirl has to deal with a dangerous situation on her own.

Days, weeks and months passed after the engagement. Established routines fell into place naturally as though the couple had been married for years. Though they still flipped flopped between apartments, unable to decide if they were going to move into Kara’s loft or Lena’s penthouse. Eventually, they both agreed to purchase a house after the wedding which would seem like progress, if they actually settled on a date.

Alex _totally_ wasn’t pushing them to choose a date, a month, _a year even_. Her frustration worsened when the pair glanced at each other, shared a knowing smile and then shrugged noncommittally when prodded.

The media had caught wind of the ring on Lena’s finger rather quickly. Kara was used to hearing about Supergirl and her heroic acts, content in being recognized as a humble and selfless hero she had worked hard to become, but there was something entirely too personal about seeing these stories featuring Kara Danvers and not Supergirl.

Lena, in her usual professional prowess, gave the media enough to go on that they wouldn’t harras Kara at work. Telling the media with confidence that, yes, she and Kara Danvers were engaged and soon to be married, and that no, dates and further details were none of their concern.

They were ambushed by one particular reporter after leaving Lena’s penthouse, hand in hand. Kara had walked forward, protectively shielding Lena from them but soon relented when Lena marched forward and addressed them herself.

 _We have nothing to add at this time. Now if you’ll excuse me, my fiance and I will both be very late for work if you don’t step aside._ Lena had avoided and dodged their questioning like it was the plague while Kara resisted the urge to tip her glasses down and zap the voice recorder of the reporter’s hands.

Eventually, they were left alone and their lives returned to normal. Which, to be clear, wasn’t all that normal at all. Case and point, this very morning while both of them were getting ready for work in Kara’s modestly-sized bathroom, the blonde was in the process of tying up her hair into a neat bun when Lena had grabbed her hand, twisting Kara to face her when the playlist Lena had made switched to one of their favourite songs.

It took major compromises and some getting used to, as Lena’s music taste was rather...heavy. Metal definitely had never been something Kara imagined she could get into, but after months of experimenting, Lena had finally found bands that Kara enjoyed, and gradually, the ‘soft of hard rock playlist’ turned into a fully-fledged metalcore playlist.

_“Honestly I could sing you a song, but I don't think words can express your beauty.”_

The rich, low timber of Lena’s voice sounded infinitely better than the singer’s, Kara concluded. She almost missed her cue to join, lost in the emerald depths of Lena’s eyes; the way she sang along in perfect harmony with earnestly was nothing short of hypnotizing.

Kara grabbed Lena by the waist, her palms resting in the middle of Lena’s uncovered back, both of them half-dressed at that moment. Taking a deep breath, Kara cut in as if they had rehearsed this duet about a million times. _“I fell in love from the moment we kissed. Since then we've been history.”_

They sang the next chorus together in perfect harmony that was only possible through countless repetitions, most of these repetitions happening in Kara’s car on particularly long drives. “ _They say that love is forever. Your forever is all that I need_ ,” Kara threw her head back, repeating the subtle echo of ‘ _all that I need_ ’ in a growl that made Lena proud. 

They both continued without missing a beat with matching grins. Lena gripped the front of Kara’s sleep shirt loosely, eyes momentarily jumped from blue eyes to soft, pink lips. _“Please stay as long as you need. Can't promise that things won't be broken, but I swear that I will never leave.”_

They both completely botched the ‘ _I will never leave_ ’ scream all because of the loud squeal Lena let out when Kara had suddenly picked her up by the waist, Lena’s legs instinctively hooking around Kara’s taught waist. 

_“Please stay forever with me,”_ Kara finished with a chuckle. Their eyes met and the song quickly became background noise when Lena leaned down to capture soft lips in a tender kiss. The rhythmic sound of the instrumentals drummed along with their quickened pulse, two hearts beating as one.

Kara gently dropped her back down once Lena had rendered her as close to breathless as a Kryptonian could get while also thoroughly tangling the hair Kara had just brushed. She placed her hands over her hips, adopting her usual stern pose. “Miss Luthor, you’re under arrest.”

“What’s the charge this time, Supergirl?” Lena feigned innocence, laughing heartily as she untangled Kara’s hair from her ring. Her hand was swiftly captured by Kara, who laid a quick peck on her ring finger. The way Kara was looking at her was enough to make her heart jump in her chest.

“Stealing my heart,” Kara replied with a toothy grin. 

Lena groaned loudly before adding, flatly: “You’re the reason I drink.”

“Hey!”

Lena kissed the pout away and they both slipped into their usual morning routine. Kara would find Lena’s earrings with the X-ray vision before she started angrily rummaging through all of the vanity’s drawers while Lena would help secure the flyaway hairs into a neat bun on Kara’s head.

Kara moved around Lena, who was bent over the vanity brushing her teeth, purposefully pressed herself into Lena’s backside as she reached for the brush opposite of her, knowing there was plenty of space to move around. Lena gave her a look in the mirror, noticing the tiny smirk lifting the corner of Kara’s lips, furtive blue eyes staring anywhere but Lena’s face. 

Every fibre in Lena’s body screamed at her to retaliate, but rather than make a move and have both of them be late for work again the third time this week, Lena shot her a look that said ‘this isn’t over, Danvers’.

Kara understood the silent challenge; the cute scrunching up of her nose and sweet smile clearly spelled out ‘you’re going down, Luthor’.

The blonde slipped the pair of glasses over her bright blue eyes, the finishing touch to her outfit and dare I say, amazingly subtle disguise. 

“I’ll see you for lunch?” Lena asked as she zipped up the back of Kara’s navy-coloured dress.

“I wouldn’t miss it.”

They shared a kiss and parted ways, but not before Lena’s hand snaked its way down Kara’s lower back, dipping a little lower for good measure. 

“You don’t play fair,” Kara whined into a second and third kiss.

“When have I ever played fair, darling?” Lena sent Kara a wink over her shoulder, leaving her to pout while staring at the now-closed door.

* * *

“Are you guys picking this up?” Kara asked through the coms. The arid desert hair was not so gentle on her hair, though the yellow sun’s warm rays felt like a breath of fresh air on her skin. “This building is hidden with some sort of cloaking device,” she guessed.

Placing her hand on the cool metal exterior of the building she used her x-ray vision to survey the inside of the building, which had no glaring abnormality. She frowned at the radio silence she received from the DEO, “Guys? Alex?”

She figured that whoever went through all this trouble to hide this large hangar was probably smart enough to install a communication jammer so outside their frequencies wouldn’t be accidentally picked up by passersby. 

With a sigh, Kara scrunched up her nose and shrugged, trusting Alex to send some agents her way. She used her strength to pry apart the sheet of metal covering the building, fashioning a door with a side of breaking and entering. She took a few tentative steps forward, then a few more confident ones. The immediate appearance of the old military trucks and other various equipment laying around didn’t scream diabolical plan, and it seemed deserted for the most part. 

A loud crackling noise, like an electric discharge, erupted and her body seized immediately. Gritting her teeth from the pain, blue eyes scanned her hands and sure enough, glowing emerald veins coloured her skin and rendered her powerless before she had time to fly out of the building.

_Alex is gonna kill me._

“Who are you and what do you want?” Both questions sounded rehearsed as she spoke them in a monotone voice. It was like she was almost used to jumping into unknown dangers head first without thinking about the consequences first. 

Granted, not many individuals apart from Lex and Lillian Luthor had access to creating synthetic Kryptonite, although there was something about the military feel of this hangar that didn’t give off Luthor vibes.

She fell on one knee with a groan, the pain radiating throughout her body as the Kryptonite forced its way into her system unrelentingly, extracting her strength until every muscle was rendered numb and weak. 

Struggling to hold herself up on her hands, Kara moved her eyes around the room, though she couldn’t who carefully laid out this plant to capture her. Part of her was beginning to think it could be the hangar’s automated defences, even if having systems in place to protect this building against Kryptonians _specifically_ seemed a bit out of the ordinary. 

There was nothing, at least on the surface, that was immediately incriminating or needed covering up. Which made it glaringly obvious that the hangar was simply a front and there was something hiding in plain sight. Or perhaps, even below her feet.

_Lena is gonna kill me._

Kara wasn’t certain whose anger she’d rather deal with once she gets out of here, Lena’s or Alex’s? Perhaps she could keep the slight mismanagement of the situation to herself. However, she didn’t have time to plan her little white lie when the unfamiliar pain of something piercing her skin.

 _This is bad,_ Kara thought as her vision darkened, the field of view closing in on itself until there was nothing but darkness. 

* * *

“Supergirl? Supergirl can you hear us?” Alex asked in a controlled voice, heavily contrasted by the worried thoughts and horrible scenarios running through her head at this very moment.

“It’s no use Director Danvers, someone or _something_ is jamming our communications equipment,” Brainy explained, turning in his chair and facing Alex.

“Then unjam it, she’s out there alone!” Alex pressed urgently, waving her hand around as if it would magically bring Kara back.

His tone was apologetic as his eyes traced Alex’s deeply furrowed brow. “I can’t seem to get a lock on the signal.”

“Do we have a location?” Alex stepped closer to Brainy’s chair, crossing her arms over her chest to prevent everyone around to see her nervously fidgeting with her fingers. Being uncharacteristically worried about Supergirl was a sure-fire way to blow her secret identity, or at the very least, to raise some very unpleasant questions. 

“Triangulating Supergirl’s heat signature and-” His fingers stilled on the keys, frowning at the screen displayed in front of him. “That’s rather odd.”

“What’s odd. Brainy, what’s _odd_?” She bent down towards him, whispering through gritted teeth.

“It appears Supergirl is not on Earth-Prime at this moment.”

 _I swear to God Kara if you stepped into another portal..._ “Do you have her last known location?” She asked, willing herself to remain professional about the whole situation.

Brainy shook his head, “The area is far too vast, not to mention it would take entirely too much time and manpower to search. The probability of finding her-”

Alex sharply cut him off, voice raised. “Supergirl is out there with _no_ backup, we can’t just do nothing.”

“Unfortunately Director, without precise coordinates there is nothing we can do.” Brainy understood her fear and her anger, though he hoped she could act logically instead of letting her emotions take over.

Alex’s heart jumped in her throat, but she quickly caught herself and snapped her head up to look at the agents surrounding her. “We’re sending a search and rescue team. Hartmann,” she nodded at the man, who stood at attention the moment Alex’s eyes were on him. “Get them ready.”

“Yes, Director Danvers.” Was answered curtly with a nod, Vasquez and the other agents hot on his heels.

Alex’s eyes jumped from the monitors with the satellite images of the desert where Kara had been to Brainy. “What could have made her heat signature to disappear like that?”

“A portal?” He offered with a slightly cocked eyebrow.

“It wouldn’t be the first time,” Alex sighed. “Let me know when you have something,” she called out to him, retreating into the conference rooms. Phone in hand, she peered down at Lena’s contact name and number.

Alex didn’t particularly want to be the one to break the news to Lena, but she didn't have much of a choice. Or rather, Kara made the choice for her when she didn’t stop to wait for back up when the coms went down. 

Alex wasn’t petty at all.

She pressed the call button and brought the phone to her ear, willfully ignoring the slight shaking in her hand.

“Alex, to what do I owe you the pleasure?” 

She could hear the smile in Lena’s greeting and her stomach sank immediately. “It’s Kara.”

“I’m listening.”

* * *

When Kara opened her eyes, the smell of a medically sterilized environment so often associated with hospitals is what she recognized first. Then, as she moved around, metal distinctively clanking together. There were chains around her wrists that ran underneath the gurney she was laying on, making it impossible for her to move her arms. 

She scanned the room with bleary eyes, Kryptonite still definitely in her system as she could barely move. It was dark and empty, save from her and some type of medical equipment to her right, though she still couldn’t see or hear anyone. Whoever had captured her operated from the shadows and definitely did not want to be seen - with good reason too.

“W-Who’r you?” She slurred, head spinning, eyes unable to properly focus on anything.

No response.

“What d’you w-want?”

Kara felt something, a hand she thought, a palm pressing down on her forehead. They were bringing something close to her eye, she struggled against them even if they were strong, much stronger than she was.

_Stupid Kryptonite._

She remembers hearing her own disembodied scream when something sharp pierced her eye before she passed out from the pain, the exhaustion and the trauma of the Kryptonite slowly poisoning her body.

* * *

Lena marched down the flight of stairs, crossing the DEO emblem on the floor. She ignored every single agent, even the ones escorting her as green eyes zeroed in on Alex the moment she spotted her. 

Alex thanked the agents, who promptly saluted her. Returning the salute, she led Lena away into the conference room she was in earlier and gestured for Lena to take a seat, but Alex received a question instead of an answer:

“I’d like to know how you lost my fiance on a field mission and why you still don’t know where she is.” Lena didn’t mean to sound icy and distant, but when similar scenarios have played out in her mind as a constant nagging of why she and Kara shouldn’t be together, she allowed herself to be angry just for a moment.

“We’re trying to piece that together,” Alex bit back, palms flat against the table, leaning forward.

Lena rubbed the bridge of her nose, letting out an anxious breath. She gave Alex a small smile, knowing her outburst was far from appropriate. Alex’s posture relaxed, and so did she. “What happened?” 

“It was just a routine surveillance OP,” Alex began pacing around the room as she recalled this morning's events. “Supergirl said she saw something, landed, our coms got scrambled and we lost her heat signature.”

“A portal?” Lena offered, hands burrowed deep into the burgundy slacks that matched her three-piece suit. She didn’t trust herself not to fidget like a lunatic, and one look at Alex confirmed she wasn’t the only one with that issue. 

“Brainy didn’t find any trace of that sort of technology out in the desert which means...” Alex trailed off, knowing Lena would fill in the gap herself.

“Someone’s keeping Ka-Supergirlhidden someplace where her heat signature is undetectable.” It felt almost foreign referring to Kara as Supergirl, even if Alex reassured her she’d get used to it. She never did really.

Alex nodded, flopping back into an empty leather chair with a dramatic sigh, brown eyes glued to the ceiling as if the answer to all her questions were written up there. She felt a hand on her shoulder and almost jumped, far too preoccupied with the possible failure of finding the most important person in her life to notice Lena had taken a seat beside her.

There was a sense of familiarity about the gentle contact of Lena’s hand on her, warm and comforting, easing Alex away from ‘we’re never getting her back’ to ‘maybe we have a chance’. Perhaps it was far too early to have those kinds of thoughts as Alex never shied away from putting her life at risk every day; she understood that much.

And sure, Kara was invincible, she knew it, yet it frustrated Alex when she’d watch Kara continuously put herself in harm’s way without thinking of herself and her well-being. She could see the same frustration clearly displayed in Lena’s clear green eyes.

Growing closer to Lena over the past few months, Alex had seen a very different side of the CEO, like how incredibly caring she was regardless of all the pain she suffered at the hands of people using and abusing her good heart. She understood why Kara had fallen for her, and she was more than happy to call her family.

“What can I do to help?” Lena asked, giving Alex’s shoulder an encouraging squeeze. 

“Can you determine what fried our coms? If we figure out what did it, then maybe we can get a lock on its frequency and find out where she is.” Alex watched Lena nod decisively, stopping her from standing up by covering the hand on her shoulder with her own. “we’ll find her,” she whispered, not trusting her voice not to crack.

“I know,” Lena replied in a similar hushed tone, voice thick with unspoken emotion.

Lena had to believe that they would indeed find her, fearing what it would mean if they didn’t. Instead of wallowing in this sense of dread, she helped Brainy triangulate Kara’s last known location by sweeping the desert she had been in for any electronic frequencies they could latch on to. 

Though the sense of dread that clung to her was quite determined to make her go absolutely insane, especially since she couldn’t get rid of the nagging feeling that this had Lex written all over it. 

* * *

The next time Kara wakes up, every ache and pain is gone from her body. The chains on her hands were attached to large metal rings that had been drilled into the concrete below her feet, as she seemed to have been boxed into a cell made entirely out of glass panels. Closing her fists around the thick chains, Kara stood up and yanked on them, but surprisingly they didn't come apart in her hands. 

Whoever had captured her knew what they were doing, having Kryptonite close enough to weaken up but not enough to completely poison and kill her. Gritting her teeth, Kara leaned forward on her dominant leg, pulling at the chains until every vein in her neck visibly popped out.

The only thing she achieved, however, was screaming her throat raw and drawing blood from the chains pinching the skin around her wrists. 

There was a familiar tingle in her eyes, the kind she felt when preparing to use her laser vision. Although this time it was accompanied by a burning sensation that was none too pleasant. Two beams of lasers shot from her eyes, without much warning, the force of it so foreign it almost snapped her head back.

She managed to control it, bracing herself against the chains, but as the lasers grew in size and perhaps even in strength, the heat that radiated in and around her eyes caused her to cry out in pain. The beams collided against the glass wall in front of her, absorbing rather than melting them.

_What the hell is happening?_

Kara fell to her knees once the heat vision abruptly stopped on its own. She wanted to scream to whoever was doing this that she’ll find whoever is responsible and pummel them into a wall until their bones turn to dust, but could only choke back tears at the increased heat from the lasers scorched the skin around her eyes.

Leaning forward on trembling arms, Kara noticed drops of blood on her hands before unconsciousness claimed her once more. 

  
  
  
  
  



	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is pretty heavy emotionally, just FYI. Mentions and attemps of suicide and the beginnings of PTSD.
> 
> Kara barely holds on while the DEO frantically searches for Supergirl. Lena visits and questions her brother.

Seven days. 

Seven days of endless worry and barely holding it together at the DEO. 

Seven days of hiding in the interrogation room to cry. 

Seven days of sleepless nights, replacing rest with working tirelessly to find something, _anything_ , that would help them find Kara’s still unknown whereabouts. 

Lena wasn’t sure the last time she enjoyed a warm meal or when exactly the DEO became her second home, but every day seemed to bleed into the next as time became a concept more than a reality. 

Sat on the floor with her back against the cold concrete wall, her knees drawn into her chest and her head tucked down on her knees, Lena sobbed quietly in the empty room, a shadow cast over her. 

Lena used to enjoy being alone until she found out that complete stillness without Kara’s strong and gentle presence was nothing but a vast expanse of troubling thoughts that did nothing to ease her distress.

Kara was missing and Lena felt incomplete. The growing hollow in her chest made her feel empty, her heart longing to beat alongside her other half. Or, rather, her better half. Certainly, Kara wouldn’t waste time crying if she was missing. Would she?

At least, that’s what Lena made herself believe as she hid away from the chaos outside, needing a moment to catch her breath; momentary respite for her mind. National City was crying out for their hero all the while Lena only wanted Kara Danvers back. _Her_ Kara Danvers. It was selfish, she knew that and she didn’t care.

The sounds of the door creaking open and then closing harshly made Lena still her movements, her throat burning as she forced her tears back. Looking up, she opened her eyes now staring at Alex slumped back against the closed door, a hand on her chest and her breath coming out in short, rapid bursts.

Composing herself impressively quick for someone who hasn’t slept in a dangerous amount of hours, Lena stood up and smoothed the wrinkles of her dress pants almost timidly, not wanting to make a sound and break the privacy of the moment.

Lost in her sudden panic attack, Alex hadn’t noticed Lena until she stood a few feet away from her. “Lena!” Alex flinched, eyes wide and filled to the brim with unshed tears.

“I didn’t mean to interrupt, I was simply-”

“Looking for a place to hide?” Alex finished weakly. They shared a knowing smile.

When Alex started hyperventilating again, Lena didn't miss a beat as she closed the distance between them to gather the woman into her arms. Alex burrowed her face in her shoulder, melting in the comfort of the arms that wrapped around her shoulders without a moment of hesitation. 

Even as Nia, J’onn and Kelly jumped aboard team 'find Kara before Lena and Alex go on a murderous spree throughout National City’, they weren’t any closer to finding Kara than they were the first day she disappeared.

DEO agents meticulously scouted every square mile of the desert meticulously and have yet to find anything. If Brainy’s calculations were correct, which they most certainly were, the search teams have covered less than ten percent of the area Kara had last been seen in over this last week. 

The fieldwork wasn’t advancing their search any further than what Lena had been doing in front of a computer screen. Morale was at an all-time low and Alex struggled to keep justifying all the men and women that worked around the clock to find Supergirl, to find her sister. 

The situation had turned from daring to desperate in less than a week, and Alex was beginning to think they couldn’t do anything to help Kara except wait and hope she could save herself. 

It was then that Alex broke from the pressure of it all, from the failure of protecting her sister, and came undone in Lena’s tight hug in the secluded interrogation room. She let a strangled sob escape her lips, muffled into the material of Lena’s navy blue blazer. Everything she had been dutifully keeping inside laid bare in the security of Lena’s embrace. 

She had forced herself to ignore the twinge of pain in her heart every time a lead fell through; all she had wanted to do was curl up in a ball and wish the situation away. She had told herself it was for the benefit of those around her, though she knew all too well it was for her own sanity. Alex couldn’t possibly think clearly if she was at the mercy of her own emotions, and yet repressing them brought her to the edge of a panic attack; something that hadn’t happened to her in years.

“Thanks for letting me weep into your thousand-dollar suit,” Alex said with a chuckle as she untangled herself from Lena’s arms and wiped away the evidence of her breakdown off of her cheeks.

“Anytime,” Lena replied sincerely. Alex had almost done the same to her two days ago, but Lena had made it clear it wouldn’t benefit either of them to fall apart at the seams so they had kept their distances.

Clearly, Lena had been wrong. Sure, she now had a raging headache, her eyes were red and puffy and her nose was clogged, but through all of that, she felt lighter than she did ten minutes ago. 

Alex dropped one hand on Lena’s shoulder, glancing worriedly at the dark circles under Lena’s eyes as she felt the tension in the muscles under her fingers. “Why don’t you go home and rest? You haven’t left this place since-”

Lena was thankful for the care and attention, but she couldn’t leave. Not while Kara was still out there somewhere. Besides, there was nothing to go home to. “I’d rather stay here, with you,” Lena added quickly.

“Take a day off,” Alex raised her hand at Lena’s protests. “It’s an order. I’m your superior here, Miss Luthor.”

Letting her shoulder deflate, Lena eventually acquiesced, realizing she truly was at the mercy of every Danvers woman in this universe. She thanked God every day there were only two of them, the third whom she had yet to meet. “If you find anything,” Lena started.

“You’ll be the first to know,” Alex finished with a nod as they shared a soft smile before they exited the room and walked in opposite directions. 

Lena felt the holstered gun tightly secured on her hip, DEO issued and provided by Alex. The reasoning Alex had given her was that whoever had caught Kara could be coming for either of them, and she didn’t want this turning into a double rescue mission. 

Lena still had suspicions about Lex’s involvement and she decided it felt like the perfect time to find out what brother dearest had been up to. 

Maybe Alex was right, after all, she could use a break from this place. Lena walked had a newfound purpose, replacing the feeling of hopelessness with tightly coiled anger.

* * *

Sweat dripped from her forehead, though it chilled her to the bone. A shiver ran through her body as she felt the ghost of a touch on her shoulder; a hand, and then a familiar body pressed against her back, a nose grazing the back of her neck. 

“Good morning, darling,” Lena whispered against her neck, lips brushing against Kara’s skin as she spoke. 

Kara opened her mouth but no sound came out as her voice caught low in her throat. However, she was perfectly content in basking in Lena’s warmth, letting the smell of her shampoo lull her into a sense of security. Fingertips ran down her shoulder, her biceps, her forearms and then slipped into her hand, fingers tangled together loosely. Lena brought their bodies closer together as Kara hummed happily. 

The moment is soon broken, grim reality settling in as the rustling of chains ripped Kara out of her pain-induced sleep.

_A dream._

Kara carefully opened one unfocused blue eye, noticing the burning pain was gone again, though her shoulders and back ached as she had been lying on the hard concrete floor beneath her, her usually unbreakable body softened by the Kryptonite. 

_It was just a dream._

Anger welled up inside of her as she sat up on her knees and pushed herself up on trembling legs. Looking up at the ceiling, the scream she let out transpired anguish and fear, and for the first time, she used the heat vision herself.

The beam is hot, hotter than before even, growing in intensity along with the yell that would make her already sore throat even more hoarse. Whatever reinforcement or technology used to absorb the heat eventually gave out, and a Kara was able to melt a large hole into the ceiling of her glass prison.

The beam burst through the dirt, the concrete, and eventually surfaced up into the hangar and melted an irregular shape into the metal roofing of the building above her. Her skin tingled from the sun’s rejuvenating glow, every nerve ending in her body singing as the warmth chased the poison from her veins.

She flexed her hands and the chains around her wrists they gave up without putting up a fight. 

There was a strange, unfamiliar expression on her face, the distinctive snarl characteristic of an animal that had been caged for too long; wild, desperate and violent. Images of mangling her captive’s body flashed in front of her eyes, tearing them apart until nothing but a carcass remained. 

The muscles in her super suit flexed as she closed her fists tightly and used her heat vision once more against the glass panel in front of her. 

What she had been wishing these last few days was escaping these four glass walls that had become her own personal hell. Now, however, she had another goal entirely; one that reeked of revenge.

* * *

“Sis, to what do I-Oh, so it’s that kind of visit, huh?” He stared down at the barrel of the handgun pointed at his chest, a smirk lifted the corner of Lex’s lips. His gaze shot up to Lena’s deeply angered emerald eyes. “You think I have something to do with your Kryptonian’s disappearance?” He assumed correctly, the snarl present on his sister’s face told him more than words ever could.

“I _know_ you do, Lex.” Lena corrected, “If you don’t tell me where she is I will shoot you. You know I will.” She hadn’t had any luck tracking the jamming device used, and there was only one other person in National City smart enough to develop that kind of technology: the man standing in front of her right now. 

“Yes, yes, I remember,” his fingers touched his chest as the vague memory of the sharp pain that lingered at the back of his mind. He stood up, rounding his desk and closing the distance between him and the weapon steered in his direction. “But what qualms do I have with that disgusting alien of yours?”

Lena scoffed at the lie. “The hate you have for Kryptonians is the only thing that keeps your poisoned heart from beating in that rotting chest of yours,” Lena spat through gritted teeth. 

Lex chuckled slightly, the sound smooth like honey as if the words didn’t sting, much less enter his ears. “We might not share the same blood, Lena, but you are a Luthor whether you like it or not. Your heart is my heart.”

“You’re _filth_ , nothing more!” Lena was shouting now, though the grip she had on the handgun remained steady as she trained it in front of her. “If you don’t tell me where my fiance is right now I will enjoy emptying this entire clip into your chest. Again.”

“Do you think me so stupid that I would not have taken precautions against your little outbursts?” Lex explained, unbuttoning his dress shirt to reveal a bulletproof vest underneath.

Lena moved the barrel of the gun to point it at his head and quirked a brow at him. “Surely you aren’t that stupid _brother_.” She wasn’t above splattering his brains all over this office. “Answer my fucking question, Lex!” Lena shouted, taking a step forward and pressing the barrel against his forehead. 

His next words were interrupted by the sound of Lena’s phone ringing, echoing in the large office. Never taking her eyes off of her brother’s smug grin, Lena briskly fished the phone from her blazer’s pocket and answered the call. “Alex.”

“We found her.” The phone almost slipped from Lena’s fingers, eyes wide with a mixture of unbelief and relief. She let out a shaky breath as tears threatened to spill from her eyes. 

“See?” Lex spoke with his arms behind his back, one hand in the other, confident this somehow cleared his name from all involvement. “I had nothing to do with it.”

“This conversation is not over,” Lena retorted as she holstered the weapon and made a hasty exit. This proved nothing, Lex being here with her while the DEO found Kara. Lena was going to get to the bottom of this as she grew increasingly fearful of what Lex could have gained from this. First, however, she needed to see Kara.

* * *

Kara’s back hit the glass wall with a loud thud, the panel cracking from the force of the impact. Whoever had been experimenting on her had harnessed the power of her heat vision, the beam coming from a circular apparatus on their chest, glowing a bright blue colour. The glass ceiling repaired itself automatically, as the panels that surrounded her now glowed a bright green she grew to hate with every passing day.

Kara groaned as she lifted herself up on her hands. Her breathing was erratic, and shallow, broken ribs making it hard to take in deep breaths. There was a loud ringing in her ears and her body felt like it had been set on fire from the inside as the glass panels radiated Kryptonite onto her like a sunlamp. 

She managed to lift her head up slightly, though it felt like it weighed about a thousand pounds. Her eyes glowed green as she glanced up at the figure standing in the shadows. The only visible detail apart from the tall figure was the blue glow on their chest. She blinked once, and it was gone.

Alone and on the brink of death, Kara closed her eyes and filled her mind with the memory of Lena. 

An unsteady hand crawled on the floor, scraping against the concrete until her fingers grasped a piece of sharp, broken chain link. 

How Lena smelled when she just stepped out of the shower.

She brought it up to her neck and pressed it against her jugular. 

How Lena felt under her fingers.

She had been held captive against her will, unable to control the situation. Kara was going to take the control back, her way.

She thought about how their bodies slotted perfectly together when they kissed as she pushed the sharp piece of metal into her skin, drawing blood. 

“Kara!” A voice shouted, through it seemed distant in the fog of her mind.

She could almost hear Alex’s voice calling out her name as her fingers were slick with her own blood. 

When Alex’s eyes lock with hers, for a moment Kara believed it to be a hallucination and nothing more; wishful thinking in her part and her body’s last resort to keeping her alive. 

Alex was too focused on the glowing walls of the glass box to notice the blood spilling from Kara’s neck. _Kryptonite._ “Lena, can you disable it?”

Her hand suddenly stilled when she heard Lena’s name spoken, and the sound of several pairs of boots hitting the ground as they stormed the so-called castle. The broken piece of metal hit the floor with a distinctive clink. 

_This is real. They’re really here._

“Already on it,” Lena replied, easily navigating through the glass cell’s functions. Though her hands were shaking terribly as she forced her gaze away from Kara’s beaten and bloodied body, Lena still managed to promptly disable the glass panel's offensive function against Kara’s alien physiology.

J’onn gathered a barely conscious Kara in his arms the moment the glass door opened, rapidly shooting them up into the hole Kara had created earlier until they surfaced above the hangar’s roof, idly floating.

Kara was limp in his arms, her cape and her hair freely blowing in the wind. As the sun hit her skin all of her wounds visibly started to heal; the deep cut on her jugular closed, the only evidence of the wound was the dried blood that streaked down her neck and pooled at the edge of her suit.

In just a few moments, Kara opened her eyes, moving away from J’onn’s arms as she floated beside him. 

He reached out, putting a hand on her neck where the blood dried once the wound was closed. “Kara,” was said barely above a whisper. 

Her hand shot up, fingers curling around his wrist as she ripped his hand away. “Don’t.” There’s quiet recognition in his eyes, the realization of what had transpired making his chest constrict painfully. 

Looking below them, the search and rescue teams loaded the SUVs labelled ‘FBI’ with the equipment found in the secret underground bunker. Listening in, Kara heard the agents mentioning that they hadn’t found anyone. 

Her fists clenched at her sides. _Good, I’ll find you myself._

She spotted Lena and Alex next, both looking at her and J’onn’s figures in the sky above them. Suddenly, there’s a pull in her chest and it’s stronger than the growing need for revenge. With the power this individual now possessed, it was only a matter of time before they make themselves known. They had planned to kill her, that much was obvious. But with Supergirl still in the equation, she wondered if they would actually make a move.

Kara turned to J’onn, ripping her eyes away from the women she loved before she did something stupid and gathered them in her arms regardless of the agents watching. Instead, she placed a hand on J’onn’s forearm, a gesture he mirrored. “Thank you,” she replies sincerely with all the emotion she could muster without breaking down in front of him. 

Kara landed in front of Lena and Alex and listed her hand up to her head, saluting Alex as is the proper formal procedure considering her sister was her superior.

Alex returned the salute without missing a beat, though her clenched jaw didn’t go unnoticed to Kara.

Kara extended her hand towards Lena, who grasped the hand offered almost immediately. Lena’s hand felt incredibly soft against her own, and the warmth spread through her entire body the second their skin came into contact with each other. There was so much Kara wanted to say, the wide range of emotions swirling in Lena’s green eyes was a clear indication she showed the same restraint. 

It took all the power Lena could muster not to throw herself into Kara’s arms as they shook hands like co-workers with no deep emotional ties; as if the superhero standing in front of her wasn’t the reason Lena’s heart beat wildly against her chest.

“Thank you for your help, Miss Luthor,” was the formal acknowledgment that came out of Kara’s mouth. She then turned to Alex and nodded at her, fists clenched as she forced her expression and her voice to remain neutral and even. “You as well, Director Danvers. Your help is greatly appreciated, as always.”

Alex’s words caught in her throat and Kara knew they were about to step over a very thin line if she didn’t leave right this second. So she did. With a slight bend of her knees, Kara was up in the air, leaving only a trail of dust in her wake. 

* * *

Lena was standing in the DEO’s med bay as Alex and a few other agents proceeded with a full medical exam of Kara, eyes focused on the screen of the tablet in her hands. The black text in the yellow box underneath the reporter that spoke on the screen read: _Lena Luthor Works With The FBI to Save Supergirl! Team-Up Of The Century?_

The reporter’s voice came through the tablet’s modest speakers, drowning out the sounds of the medical equipment around her if, offering momentary relief of the excruciating wait, desperately yearning to hold Kara against her in order to quiet the voice in her head telling her this wasn’t real. That it was just a dream.

_“Earlier today we have gotten confirmation that Supergirl is back after claims of a very dark and twisted individual captured the girl of steel for a total of seven days. Their intentions are still unclear, but the FBI is warning the citizens of National City to contact them if they see anything unusual. No more information was divulged by the agents assigned to the case, however, we have a few pictures of Supergirl and Lena Luthor shaking hands at the scene. Sources claim that the pair-”_

“Turn it off,” Kara said without making eye contact with Lena, but she didn’t miss the concerned look on the woman’s creased brow. Kara focused on a focal point in the distance over Alex’s shoulder.

She gave up on herself.

She gave up on her sister.

She gave up on Lena.

And they saved her.

Both Alex and Lena shared a look of concern at Kara’s cold tone. This was more than ‘Supergirl’ being professional to conserve her secret identity. There was a hint of a deeply troubled look in the usual bright cobalt eyes, and Alex found it increasingly hard to focus on taking Kara’s vital signs. 

Once the examination was complete Supergirl was cleared for duty by the head of the medical staff. Every agent along with Nia, J’onn and Kelly left after briefly saying how happy they were that she was back. Kara was going through the motions, autopilot firmly engaged as she shook all their hands. 

She shouldn’t be alive right now, and every breath she took from now on would be on borrowed time. This decision rested on her shoulders and hers only. It was her actions that put her in that precarious situation, and it was her lack of faith that almost cost Kara her life.

Kara blinked, silence filling the room as only Lena and Alex remained with her in the medical bay. Wordlessly, she opened her arms and both women walked into the embrace, prior hesitancy was thrown out of the window. 

Hands clung to Kara’s suit tightly, and she wished she could rip it off. The sight of the symbol on her chest making her queasy. How could she proudly wear the crest of El after what she had almost done to herself? 

The paragon of hope, losing hope. Pathetic.

She buried her nose in Lena’s silky black hair, taking a deep breath of the smell that made her feel loved and at home. 

How could she ever tell them? How could she possibly ever tell the most important people in her life that she had given up on herself and almost taken her own life? They didn’t need to know, Kara decided.

All that mattered now was protecting her family by stopping the maniac that had experimented on her, violated her body and stole her powers. She still had to get used to her new heat vision and it turned out she had a perfectly good target to try it on.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A breakthrough in Lena's research reveals the identity of who captured Kara. She teams up with Supergirl to fight them as National City is under attack.
> 
> No particular warning here. I tried to make things slightly more lighthearted, but huh, don't get too comfortable. 🤡

“Whoever it is they won’t come forward knowing we’re looking for them. Their plan was to take me out and steal my powers.” Or at least, one of them. The happy accident of the experiments which caused her own heat vision to grow stronger was certainly not going to require a formal written complaint, however.

“We could attempt to draw them out. A news broadcast, perhaps?” Brainy offered.

“And cause mass panic? No.” Kara moved her eyes between Brainy and Alex as they stood around the round table that screamed ‘superhero team-up’ far more than ‘secret government agency’. Kara crossed her arms over her chest as she continued, “they could attack anyone at any time.”

“Supergirl’s right,” Alex agreed, suppressing her delight at the minute smile that appeared on Kara’s face. She almost wanted to snap a picture and send it to Lena with a caption that read ‘She smiles!’ Rather than make herself look like a fool in front of her agents, Alex explained her point of view further, rather than simply agreeing with America’s sweetheart. “We don’t know what they’ll do if provoked. It’s too dangerous.”

Brainy leaned forward, palm pressed down on the table, his other hand gesturing about as he spoke. “Isn’t a maniac on the loose with, pardon the pedestrian term, ‘juiced-up’ heat vision seem far more dangerous the longer we wait?”

“I’m not putting the lives of innocent citizens in jeopardy, Brainy. We find him ourselves first.” Kara spoke with the air of confidence and authority people had grown accustomed to when it came to Supergirl. Even if she was speaking to her friend, she wasn’t Kara Danvers, not that she particularly wanted to be her alter ego anyways.

“In the meantime, we’ll keep a lookout for any bleep on the map matching Supergirl’s heat signature.” The Director ordered, receiving a nod from Kara and a defeated: “Understood, Director,” from Brainy.

When her heat vision had burst through the hangar, the satellites had picked it up immediately. The numbers themselves were skewed extremely high, so much so that Brainy thought it had been an error. Upon testing Kara’s head vision through countless materials they found out that the new and improved beams could easily cut through absolutely everything, even force shields.

Brainy had excitedly explained to Kara how the center of the beam itself, where it was at its hottest, was usually around fifty million degrees Fahrenheit; a number she and Clark could both attain. Kara’s was now over five times that number and hotter than anything anyone had ever seen on any planet. Even the sun itself paled in comparison. 

Exciting to be sure, but Kara wasn’t going to be jumping for joy about it until whoever did this was captured, especially when Brainy theorized it could burn through an entire planet. This detail was going to be kept tightly under wraps as the world didn’t need to know Supergirl now held the power to incinerate an entire planet on her own. 

Kara’s head snapped towards the sound of the unmistakable sound of Lena’s distress ring. 

“What is it Supergirl?” Alex asked, noticing the sudden change in Kara’s demeanour. 

“It’s Lena.” And with that, Supergirl was gone.

* * *

Lena’s lab was quiet, comfortably so now that Kara was back. Though Lena couldn’t shake the feeling that she wasn’t truly back _back,_ and most of that was due to her extreme selfishness of wanting Kara for herself. Saving the world could wait, right? Of course not.

She let out an irritated sigh. Every piece of equipment she dismantled or ran through diagnostics did not hold any sort of evidence, incriminating or otherwise, that would connect Lex with the experiments that had been performed on Supergirl. If it truly was him, he had been extremely careful. 

Lena could easily blame the lack of closeness between her and Kara on the woman herself, but Lena knew she was to blame as well. It was like Kara’s single-track mind rubbed off on her, and not in a good way either.

She missed their physical closeness, the way Kara would always place her hand in the middle of Lena’s back as they walked in and out of rooms or buildings. Or how Kara would sneak up behind her, lay her head on Lena’s shoulder and watch her work or cook.

These past few days, however, Lena hasn’t seen Kara out of her super suit once and only interacted with her at the DEO, apart from the short nights spent together in bed sleeping, both of them knocked out cold from overworking themselves on this case.

Lena’s suspicions was finally confirmed once she pulled out a certain piece from the cloaking device used to hide the hangar in plain sight. She held the resistor between her thumb and index finger, The L-Corp logo clearly embedded onto its cylindrical shape. Her lips curled into a triumphant grin, “Checkmate, bastard.” 

Lena squeezed her left hand into a fist to active her ring’s distress call. Sure, she could have asked Siri to call Kara’s cell, but she enjoyed overdramatizing things when she felt needy. 

Minutes later, Kara rushed towards her, eyes scanning Lena’s body for any sign of injury. “Are you okay? What happened?” She placed her hand on Lena’s cheek, turning her head left and then right (and that was the most attention Kara had given her in the last three days). As I said prior to this, call it an act of selfishness. 

“It’s Lex.” Lena lifted her hand up to meet Kara’s, who had pulled away before Lena had time to lay her hand on top of hers. 

“And you’re sure?” She asked in a tone usually reserved for DEO agents.

“Positive,” Lena did her best to remain neutral, although seeing Kara jerk away from her touch as if she would have gotten burned hurt far more than Kara acting physically distant ever could. 

“Shall we?” Kara asked, extending her hand towards Lena, who grasped it without a moment’s hesitation. She noticed the sting in Lena’s expressive eyes when she had pulled away from her touch, yet Kara’s currently fragile state of mind only allowed her to be one person at a time, and she had dutifully chosen Supergirl.

Kara easily scooped her up and Lena automatically wrapped her arms around her fiance’s broad shoulders. They stayed in this position as Kara spoke with her sister through her earpiece.

“Director Danvers,” Kara greeted. 

The display of strength did nothing to calm the raging fire quickly building in Lena’s lower abdomen, not to mention the closeness of their bodies after being touch-starved for longer than a week did nothing to quench her quickly escalating desire.

 _Focus Lena, focus._ She had to continuously remind herself they had to save the world first and that she certainly could not ask Kara to put her down on the table and fingerbang her into oblivion. Her thoughts have only gotten more graphic when she felt Kara glance at her from the corner of her eye as if those baby blues could read her mind. They definitely could, Lena mused silently. Perhaps Kara would be the one to break first and shove Lena against a wall, force a muscular thigh between her legs and whisper about all the things she’d do to Lena once they got home while Lena would grind herself on Kara’s leg.

“We have a lead. Lena and I are headed to search Lex’s office.”

Kara’s fingers flexed and then relaxed repeatedly, hearing Lena’s increasing heartbeat and feeling her breath spill across her neck which threatened to blow over her self-control like a weak house of cards.

“Roger that.”

Lena hid her face in the crook of Kara’s neck as they flew several miles over National City. The cool hair was doing absolutely nothing to stop Lena’s raging hormones from tap dancing as if they drank an inhuman amount of energy drinks. Neither did smelling Kara’s shampoo, or hearing her swallow thickly. 

_This is pure torture,_ Lena thought, finding it increasingly hard to relax when the warmth of Kara’s hands practically burned through the material of her clothes.

They touched down on the balcony of her brother’s office not too long after, and Lena thanked God in the high heavens for having pitty on her. Reluctantly, She was set down and moved away from the comfort of Kara’s body. Not all was doom and gloom, however, Lena finding herself delighted that their bodies were still very much attuned to one another.

Lena grabbed the tablet on his desk, and once she touched the screen a video recording started playing. The face staring back at her was none other than Lex himself.

 _“You finally figured it out, sis. Or was it your Kryptonian pet?”_

Lena tensed when Kara walked up behind her, their bodies almost touching as she peered over Lena’s shoulder. “He seems to like me,” Kara jested tersely.

 _This has to be some sort of grand cosmic joke,_ Lena whined silently when Kara’s breath tickled the back of her neck. She focused on her brother’s voice, which always managed to ignite all her hatred for the man.

_“This is not a goodbye message, but rather a ‘you’re too late’ heads up. Don’t say I never gave you anything.”_

The image cut out and Lena slammed the tablet down on the corner of the desk, shattering the screen in a million pieces. She felt Kara’s hand slide between her shoulder blades, fingers climbing upwards until they were softly massaging the back of her neck.

“We’ll find him,” Kara whispered reassuringly.

Lena began to lean into the touch, only to break away from Kara a second later when the unit of DEO agents kicked the door open.

_I really, really hate this day._

Kara suppressed a chuckle as she turned towards the agents who had rudely interrupted them. She felt Lena’s glare on the back of her head as she addressed the unit’s commander. “He’s not here.”

They nodded, silently thanking Supergirl and signalled the other agents to turn this place upside down, which they did none too gently. The office went from immaculate to a metal concert that went wrong, or very right, depending on how you looked at it.

Alex’s voice came through Kara’s earpiece once again: “Supergirl can you hear me? We have an emergency.”

“I'm Listening.”

“Several juiced-up Lexosuits have been spotted, you need to get there _now_.”

“On my way.” Kara nodded her head at Lena, silently telling her to follow Kara out of the office and into a more secluded area of the corridor. 

“Lex?” Lena guessed, her lips in a tight line as she watched Kara’s brow crease from worry. 

Kara nodded. “Lexosuits with the super heat vision. I’m taking you back to the DEO. You’ll be safe there.”

“I can help you disable them.”

Strained silence stretched out between them briefly.

“Can you do it from a distance?”

“I'll need to be close.” Lena was already prepared for Kara’s answer, noticing the reluctance in her facial expression before the words even came out of her mouth.

“We’ll figure something else out.” _I’m not losing you._

“Kara, listen to me, we have no time.” Lena lowered her voice and went to grab Kara’s elbow, who shrugged off her hand as soon her fingers touched her suit. Lena seriously wanted to smack her, not that it would do much. “They can destroy an entire fucking planet, or did you forget?”

Sighing, and not wanting to dig a deeper hole she had already dug herself in, Kara accepted Lena’s request even though she absolutely hated the idea. Despite that, Lena was right, they didn’t have much of a choice. 

She called Alex back, requesting a team of DEO agents and a bulletproof van to meet her where the Lexosuits had been deployed, and in an instant, they were gone.

* * *

“Lena,” Kara warned.

“Working on it _Supergirl_ ,” Lena replied through gritted teeth. “Codes don’t just write themselves.”

“Five more of them just showed up.”

Lena could hear the distinctive sound of heat vision cutting through metal from the earpiece one of the agents handed to her once she settled herself in the van parked a block away from Kara’s position. 

She was sitting in the smallest and most uncomfortable chair she ever had the displeasure of using while working on a computer that was also far from luxurious. After several tense minutes of quietly cursing very creatively, Lena had pulled out her tablet in favour of working with something that didn’t have the response time of a sloth. 

She heard Kara groan loudly, Lena imagined that she had probably picked up something extremely heavy and was caring it over her head and then the extremely unpleasant sound of metal twisting together that followed. 

Lena stopped herself from asking how these agents could listen to this all day in favour of wondering how she fell in love with the sweetest alien who just so happened to have a slight penchant for mass destruction. 

“Move! Get out of here!” 

She heard Kara shout next, most likely saving a few bystanders from being fried like chicken legs. With the code finally written, she transferred the data to override the suits and power them off remotely. 

“You did it! I lo- huh, good work, Miss Luthor.” Kara tripped and stumbled over her words as she almost professed her undying love for Lena to the entire DEO. 

“Always a _pleasure_.” Lena couldn’t resist teasing her, shoulders deflating in relief. There was no time to celebrate, however, as the ground beneath them shook violently. There was a moment of silence, one of the agents broke it to ask what the hell that was. He was briskly cut off as the top of the van was peeled back, making the most annoying sound Lena ever heard.

When she glanced up, Lena came face to face with a lexosuit that was unlike the others; Large and bulky, but coloured green and yellow all the same. 

Kara wiped the concrete dust from her hands before she pressed her index against her earpiece. “Your unit can head back to the DEO for debriefing. I’ll be there shortly.”

Radio silence.

“Lena? Lena!?” _Dammit,_ Kara cursed under her breath. In a blur of movement, she came to a skidded halt in front of the now-destroyed van. “Lena answer me!” Kara shouted frantically. Before she could move towards the van, something collided with her back and sent her flying across the street, her body crashing through the glass windows of a nearby store. 

“That was rude,” Kara said as she jumped back onto her feet easily and dusted the glass off of her suit.

“We meet again, Kryptonian,” Lex’s voice sounded muffled as it was projected through his suit. “Though, I think you’ll see I have evened the odds.”

The suit itself was three times her height and far sturdier than any Lexosuit she had faced before. Despite the super suit’s appearance, her confidence did not waver for a second as she slowly floated up until she was eye level with him, snarling at the smug expression he sported through his helmet. “Not enough, Lex.”

“You’re right,” he sighed overdramatically, “this bulky hunk of metal is nothing compared to the girl of steel, but perhaps you’ll care for my passenger. You know her right? My sister?” 

“Touch her and you’re dead,” Kara growled dangerously. _This is all my fault. She shouldn’t have been here._

“Actually, touch me and she’s dead,” Lex explained in a chirpy tone as if he was discussing baking recipes and not at all talking about using his own sister as a human shield...hostage...thing.

“Supergirl, what the hell is that thing?” Alex asked, expertly masking the worry in her voice. 

“It’s Lex.”

He smirked at the mention of his name, and Kara snarled back at him.

“Our satellite weapons have a visual, we can get a lock on-”

“Don’t!” Kara shouted, “Lena’s in there too.”

 _Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit,_ Alex repeated silently. “What can we do?”

“Let me handle this and under no circumstance should you interfere. Please,” she added softly. Kara needed to know she was in complete control and that nothing could get in her way for Lena’s sake, and ultimately, her own as well.

She heard Alex barking out the order to stand down, and Kara let out a breath of relief. 

“It’s just you and me, Kara,” Lex spat out, his giddy tone replaced with something far more sinister.

Kara narrowed her eyes at him, “Bring it.” 

The beam that shot out from the suit’s chest collided with Kara, knocking her out of the air and back on the ground. She lifted her arms, crossing them in front of her face, forearms pressed tightly together. 

Her suit absorbed most of the heat, but the force of the beam pushed her back, her boots ripping the concrete as she tried to anchor herself into the ground. Every step she attempted to take forward only pushed her further back. 

Glancing over her shoulder Kara saw the quickly approaching brick wall, and in a few seconds, her back collided into it. Her arms were getting crushed against her chest, her suit burned through and her arms singed. Still, Kara pushed against the beam and she sunk further into the wall, the bricks cracking from the pressure.

The beam suddenly stopped and Kara’s arms fell at her sides, already healing. “Having a technical difficulty, Lex?” It had to be Lena. _Please be okay._ Kara pushed herself out of what remained of the wall, her heart thudding almost painfully against her chest as she waited for what felt like an eternity. 

“You disappoint me, Lena.” The pleasantries were all but gone, replaced with irritation. A compartment of the suit lifted open like a sliding gate, and he plucked Lena out of the seat she had been tied in with the suit’s large metal arm then chucked her into the air. 

Kara flew up instantly, catching a wide-eyed Lena into her arms. 

“So predictable Supergirl,” Lex chuckled darkly. “Though I suppose it’s fitting, that you should meet your end together.” 

“He’s rebooting!” Lena remarked, noticing the circular core on the suit’s chest started glowing brightly once more.

Kara didn’t have time to react as a beam came barrelling towards them. Kara used her own heat vision, the lasers clashed together and stopped just inches away from them. 

She hadn’t gotten used to this new heat vision yet, hoping she could control her power better than Lex’s suit could. If she didn’t, Lena would be the first casualty and there was no way in hell Kara was ever going to let that happen.

“How’s that for power, Supergirl?” Lex laughed, the ground shook as he took a step forward in the oversized metal suit.

“You think you can control my powers better than I can, Lex?” Kara taunted.

Tapping into her fear and into the emotional and physical pain Lex made her suffer through for more than a week, Kara let everything out in a deafening scream, the laser getting progressively strong and brighter. “I was born with this power Lex! You stole it from me and I’m taking it back!”

She landed on the ground, holding Lena against her as she had earlier when they had flown to Lex’s office. Shifting her weight on her dominant leg, Kara leaned forward, driving the suit’s beam further and further away from them. She felt the death grip Lena had on her, and Kara squeezed the thigh she was holding in a desperate attempt to alleviate her fear, if only for a moment.

Her lasers finally collided with the suit, melting it in half as easily as a hot knife slicing through butter. The suit, now separated in half, fell on the ground with a loud thud, smoke rising from the edges of the seared pieces of metal that still glowed a bright red colour.

Kara fell down onto her knees the exhaustion settled into her body from the strain of using the lasers at full capacity for so long, but it was soon forgotten once her eyes met Lena’s. “You’re okay, you’re okay,” Kara repeated over and over, her face pressed into Lena’s neck, arms wrapped tightly around her waist. She knew they shouldn’t stay here much longer, but she couldn’t will her body to move much less let go of Lena, who was just as desperately clinging to Kara’s shoulders.

The threat was over now, Lex had been defeated, incinerated out of this universe by his own creation. For the first time in a week, Kara actually felt she could finally breathe. Though this cold sense of dread hung at the back of her mind, like a guillotine’s blade dangling above her head. 

They weren’t out of the woods yet.


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lena and Kara attempt to salvage their relationship.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Angst and smut to conclude this arc. Warning: mentions of self-harm and suicide.

“Lena,” Kara greeted as she landed on the CEO’s balcony, loose blonde hair gracefully flowing behind her just before they settled around her shoulders. 

“Hello darling,” Lena drawled, her voice a rich low timber that made Kara’s chest tighten uncomfortably. She turned in her chair with a smile on her lips, which faltered as soon as emerald eyes recognized the apologetic look in Kara’s baby blues. Lena was already making a mental note to cancel their dinner reservation. 

“Batwoman needs my help in Gotham, something about crows or bunnies.” _Gotham's a weird city_ , Kara thought as she stepped inside Lena's office, red cape trailing behind her. 

“When will you be back?” A month ago, Lena would have asked if she needed her help and a month ago, Kara would have accepted it. Today, however, even though they now stood toe to toe, the distance between them was deafening, stretching so far they couldn’t truly hear each other.

“Two, maybe three days.” Kara noticed the anger flash in the green eyes she used to run to for solace. She tore her gaze from Lena’s face, eyes cast downwards; she wanted to apologize, but her words caught somewhere in her throat and swiftly disappeared. 

Kara had become a damaged puzzle piece, frayed edges and bent corners, unable to fit where it used to no matter how hard she tried. Both Lena and Alex had talked to her about talking to a professional, Lena had even offered to get her an appointment with the psychologist she still frequently visited. Kara vehemently refused and turned down every single offer.

She didn’t need someone to save her, _I can fix myself_. 

It was a lie.

Lena nodded and swallowed down the accusations she wanted to spit out. She leaned back against her desk, eyes wandering to the bottle of Scotch she knew was in the bottom drawer of her desk; desperately needing the alcohol’s numbing buzz. 

After the fight with Lex, after they both almost perished at the hands of her brother, Lena thought she and Kara would finally be able to grow close again without the threat of imminent danger looming about. How foolish she was to think such a thing. To have hope.

Every unspoken word drove them further apart. Every time sleep claimed Lena without Kara’s comforting presence at her back, and every time she woke up to a cold and empty bed she wondered if there was anything to salvage. 

If she was lucky, and the stars and planets were perfectly aligned, Lena would even feel the bed dip in the middle of the night as Kara’s weight settled beside her, though she wouldn’t mold herself against Lena’s back like she had done so many times before. Sometimes, Kara would even kiss her, but it was chaste and would hardly ever lead to more.

“If you need anything, call me.” 

Lena wanted to laugh humorlessly at the comment, not believing Kara could give her what she truly wanted: her fiancé back. The strong, handsome and often dorky woman she fell in love with.

“Be careful,” Lena whispered thickly. She could see the brokenness displayed in cobalt eyes as they locked onto hers, and the way Kara’s barely there smile seemed to be painfully stretched on her face as she stepped forward and pressed a kiss to Lena’s forehead, her chin slotting perfectly in the dip of Lena’s nose.

“Always,” she murmured against the soft skin. 

Before Lena could even think about wrapping her arms around Kara’s waist for a hug, she was already gone. The rustling of papers on her desk was the only evidence Kara had been there mere seconds ago.

Lena popped the bottle of Scotch open and filled her glass once, then twice, and by the time she finished the fifth glass she had called her driver and informed him, with a slight slur, to drop her off at Kara’s apartment. The memory of Kara’s lips on her forehead and the warm hand that had gently held the back of her head eased Lena into the best sleep she’s had in weeks.

* * *

Two days.

Twenty four hours.

That was how long Lena went without hearing anything from Kara. Not even one measly _fucking_ text.

She had been more than patient with her, waiting for Kara to open up about what happened. To confide in her, to let Lena take care of her. That moment never came.

Lena was settled into the large, comfortable leather chair beside her fireplace; empty scotch bottle and glass on the table in front of her. Green eyes dropped to her left hand as her fingers idly played with the gold ring.

Her mind drifted to the night Kara had given it to her with the promise of everlasting love. Lena had been a mess all day and feared she would have scared Kara off with her panicked reaction, but Kara had been nothing but patient, caring, and perfect; she had been her anchor. 

Which is why Lena wracked her brain to find the reasons why Kara wouldn’t let her do the same for her. Every possible answer her mind conjured was more heartbreaking than the next. Rather than letting her thoughts push her on the razor edge of insanity, Lena clenched her left hand into a fist and waited.

Kara touched down in her apartment minutes later, longer than usual considering she had been all the way in Gotham. Eyes narrowed, they scanned the entire apartment before they landed on Lena. “You’re not in danger,” she remarked, arms crossed over her chest.

“You haven’t called since you left,” Lena’s tone was angry and Kara immediately picked up on it. 

“Is this - did you really use the ring because I haven’t reported back to you?” Kara accused with a tone that was far from gentle. 

“A text takes seconds to write, Kara, _seconds_.” It might seem like a selfish request at first, but Lena knew Kara had been purposefully avoiding closeness with her for weeks. 

“The ring is for emergencies, Lena, it’s not for-”

Lena interrupted her, wanting to scream out that this was indeed an emergency. That their relationship and possible marriage was hanging in the balance of it all. “It’s not for your future wife who’s worried sick because you haven’t bothered to text or call to tell her you’re alive and well?” 

“I’m fine.” Kara offered, knowing it wasn’t going to satisfy Lena.

“Liar.”

Kara scrunched up her brow.

“When was the last time we went to bed together? When was the last time you touched me or thought about touching me?” The accusations stung, that much was clear by the way Kara clenched her jaw and sent a nasty glare her way. 

“We are not doing this right now.” Kara turned around, pinching the bridge of her nose. With a shake of her head, she marched forward towards the balcony.

“Don’t you dare leave, Kara Danvers. Don’t you fucking dare leave.” Lena was furious, livid even. She had to stop herself from pulling her ring from her finger and throwing it at Kara. She didn’t want to cross that line. Or perhaps, she wouldn’t.

Kara noticed the empty liquor bottle on the table. And though she had never been one to judge or force Lena to slow down her drinking, tonight she couldn't stand the smell. “How much have you had to drink?”

Lena chuckled humorlessly. “Not enough.”

“Just tell me what you want Lena!” Kara shouted, throwing her hands up in exasperation, or was it defeat? She couldn’t tell anymore.

Lena’s answer was simple: “Talk to me!” 

A quiet moment passed, the sounds of the city below coming through the open balcony doors. At least, for Lena it was quiet. Kara, however, could hear everything. The angry breaths Lena was taking, the rapid beating of her heart, the sound her throat made when she choked back tears. 

“I can’t.” Kara’s voice was small, almost timid, but Lena understood it for what it was: avoidance.

“Why?” Lena pressed. Every minute that passed the rift between them grew larger. So much so Lena didn’t think she could reach out and touch Kara even if she was standing a few feet away from her. 

_I don’t want you to know how broken I am_. “You don’t understand.” 

“I can’t understand if you don’t talk to me,” Lena reasoned, tone far harsher than she had intended it to be. All her patience dissolved when Kara failed to show she wanted to actually make an effort to fix their relationship. 

“What do you want me to say!?” Kara shouted suddenly, anger boiling and rising to the surface again. “How scared I was when I realized my body had been violated? That I was too weak to save myself? That if you and Alex would have shown up two minutes later I would have killed myself? That when J’onn flew me out of the bunker I was bleeding to death from cutting myself open? Do you want to hear how the thought of you was the only thing that kept me alive for seven days? That imagining you were there with me was the only thing that gave me hope? Is that what you wanted to hear, Lena!?” Every admission was yelled louder than the previous one. 

She let out a scream of pure anguish and frustration that cut through the silence sharply as she turned around to avoid Lena’s eyes, her own glowing red. Her chest was beginning to feel tight, giving her the impression she could barely breathe; she had to get out. Lena’s muffled sob was the last thing Kara heard before she flew out into the sky in a blur of speed. 

* * *

Alex was sitting on her bed with a glass of wine when her phone buzzed, the sound pulled her attention away from her book. She tapped the screen and read the single text displayed there.

_K.D: Are you alone?_

_A.D: Yes, why?_

Moments later there was a knock at her door and it didn’t take long for Alex to figure out she would find her sister standing on the other side of it. What she didn’t expect, however, was Kara without her suit, crushing her into a bruising hug and openly bawling into Alex’s shoulder. 

Kara had closed herself off the same way when she had sent Mon-El away. She had barely seen Kara since they had found her in that bunker, and it broke Alex’s heart to know her sister was in pain and that there was nothing she could do to ease it. So, she held onto Kara's shaking body as tightly as she could, knowing it was the only thing she _could_ do.

Once the crying subsided, Alex pulled Kara along with her and they both sat on the edge of her bed. She lifted her hand to fix the wild strands of Kara’s hair that had been tangled from her most recent flight through the city. Her own tears threatened to fall when her eyes glanced at Kara’s neck. 

“J’onn told you.” It wasn’t a question, Kara could clearly see the answer in her sister’s gaze. Her face displayed fear, realizing what she had almost lost that day. It was the same face Lena made just before she left tonight. Kara wished she could say she felt the same way, yet every time she saw her reflection all she saw was a shattered version of a broken person she no longer recognized.

“He’s been worried. I’ve been worried.” Alex didn’t want to believe it, knowing fully well she would have never forgiven herself if they hadn’t saved Kara in time. Her sister had given up on herself in her moment of desperation, in searching for a way out of her predicament. That thought alone was almost too much for Alex to bear.

“It’s fine.”

It wasn’t fine, but Alex didn’t press the issue. She almost had gotten Kara to agree to talk to Kelly last week, but she had cancelled days prior to the actual appointment. There was an on-going war raging in Kara’s head and if she didn’t let someone in soon, it was going to take over completely. “You should tell Lena.” she reached out for Kara’s hand, holding it tightly in hers. She smiled through her tears when Kara squeezed back as they wordlessly exchanged loving words they were both too choked up to speak.

Kara stared down at their joined hands. “I did,” _in the worst way possible and then left like a damn coward._

“Kara, I can take you pushing me away because you’re my sister, you’re my family and I will always love you no matter what happens. But you can’t keep pushing Lena away and act surprised if she lets go. She won’t wait for you forever.” Alex almost regretted saying the last part, seeing how the words seemed to cut Kara deeper than she had intended them too.

“What if it’s too much for her?” _And she realizes that I’m not worth it?_

“Lena would move land and sea for you if you’d ask her. She loves you, and if you let her go because you’re too stubborn to talk about your feelings I will personally kick your ass.” Alex smiled when Kara chuckled. 

Her smile soon faded, replaced with guilt. “How do I-”

“Be honest, Kara.”

Kara enveloped her sister in another tight embrace, though this time it was out of gratitude and love. “What would I do without you?”

“Seeing as you have somewhere you need to be, we can go over that very long list some other time.”

Kara stood, a genuine smile on her lips. She thanked her in Kryptonian, knowing there was a lot she had to make up for. First, though, there was a relationship she needed to try and fix before it was too late. She sent Kate a text on her way there, apologizing about leaving and telling her she had an emergency back home. 

* * *

Kara sat on the edge of the bed, next to Lena’s hips, and watched the adorable way Lena’s brow furrowed when something (in this case someone) dared to disturb her sleep. She smoothed her thumb over it, and Lena relaxed into the touch.

Her hand unconsciously reached out to grasp Kara’s sweater, and her eyes suddenly snapped open. She curled her hand back, dislodging her fingers from the shirt. “Kara?” She asked with a confused crinkle of her brow. _I’m dreaming of her now? Christ._ Lena sat up, the sleep fog lifting once her hand came to rest on Kara’s very corporeal chest, feeling the strong heartbeat beneath her hand. 

In perfect unison, blue and green eyes gazed down at familiar lips. Kara was the one to close the distance between them, crashing their mouths together in a searing kiss, pouring out every ounce of emotion into it as Lena parted her lips and Kara licked into her mouth eagerly.

It felt like their first kiss. Like they had been waiting an eternity to finally share an intimate embrace both of them desperately yearned for. Lena’s soft moan, however, is what snapped her back to reality. She ripped her mouth away from Kara and pushed at her chest, only just realizing that they were both lying down on her bed, Kara on top of her. _When did this happen? I am completely losing my mind._

Kara frowned in the dark room as she searched for Lena’s eyes, afraid she had done something wrong. “Am I hurting you?”

“No,” Lena whispered, tucking Kara’s hair behind her ear and letting her palm rest against her cheek. “We should talk.” _If this is a dream, I’m going to need you to wake up now._ Lena didn’t have it in her to wake up to an empty bed and the faded memory of a dream that was far sweeter than reality.

Kara nodded solemnly and rolled off of Lena, instantly missing the gentle smell of the perfume that would make her head swim, enjoying the way it made her feel intoxicated. Alex was right, how incredibly stubborn she had been all this time, and for what? Self-preservation? 

“Tell me what happened,” Lena gently coaxed, smiling at Kara as their eyes met. She was almost afraid Kara would run again, and she swore she could see the fear momentarily pass in those blue eyes Lena came to know intimately.

Kara dropped the back of her hand on Lena’s stomach, who slipped her fingers into the larger hand and gave it an encouraging squeeze. 

_I’m here Kara. I’ve always been here with you_. _It’s just us._

The feel of the cold metal ring sliding against her skin when their hands joined made Kara’s heart swell with love, but it was also a grim reminder of the relationship she had almost broken beyond repair because of her inability to cope with her emotions without retreating so far within herself that she pushed everyone away, even the one person that could have helped her the most. 

“I don’t know where to start,” Kara spoke sincerely. She wasn’t trying to avoid the conversation. She wasn’t sure exactly what Lena was willing to hear. 

“From the beginning,” Lena brought their hands up to her lips and kissed the back of Kara’s hand, then dropped them onto her chest hoping the steady beat of her heart could at least offer Kara some strength and comfort. Whatever horrors her brother had put Kara through, she wanted to make them disappear. First, however, she needed to hear them.

Slowly but surely, Kara explained everything. From how she was captured, to every detail of what had been done to her in her seven days of captivity, to the dreams and hallucinations she had. There wasn’t a lot she remembered about her captors. Lex hadn’t dirtied his hands until he had Kara’s power at his disposal which meant whoever had been in that bunker with her was a puppet and nothing more. 

_Coward._ The pain he left behind in his wake threatened to rot every good thing in Lena’s life, and she wasn’t about to let that happen with Kara. Even if she was an alien, not born of this world, her heart was more human than her brother ever could have been.

They spoke well into the night, Kara figuratively opening up her chest and letting Lena peer into her heart without any reservation; with complete trust. The skyline outside of Lena’s bedroom window was burning a bright red as the sun was starting to peak on the horizon of a new day.

Lena idly ran her fingers through blonde hair while Kara’s head rested on her shoulder. Her hand gently massaged the area between two muscular shoulder blades. She held Kara for a long time, and though she may be seen as the strongest woman on earth through the eyes of those that knew her as Supergirl, she felt small and fragile in Lena’s arms.

Kara slowly pulled away, just enough to let her eyes fall on Lena’s face. She seemed exhausted, they had stayed up all night after all, but there was a gentleness in her eyes that Kara welcomed with open arms. She brought her hand up, fingers sliding against Lena’s cheek. “I’m-” a finger pressed against her lips and interrupted the thoughts she had wanted to voice.

Kara dropped her head on her shoulder, and though she understood Lena silently telling her another apology wasn’t necessary, she whispered the words into her ear regardless. “I’m sorry for all the times I treated you wrong. I’ll spend the rest of our life together showing you how much you mean to me - how much I love you.” 

The earnest declaration brought more tears to her eyes, and rather than verbally communicating her love for the woman in front of her, Lena grabbed Kara’s face and wordlessly spoke the unconditional love she felt for Kara into her mouth. 

Kara pushed a muscular thigh between Lena’s legs as she moved fully on top of her once again - though this time she wasn’t pushed away. Lena pulled her closer and the kiss turned almost desperate and wild as Lena lifted her hips upwards to seek the friction that Kara was gladly offering her, humming pleasantly against her mouth. 

Kara growled in response, the sound reverberating low in her throat as she removed Lena’s hands from her face and pinned them above her head, grinding herself on Lena’s thigh, seeking to build up her own pleasure. The movements had caused her leg to press down firmer against Lena, who immediately reciprocated with a loud moan that Kara swallowed. 

They were both already close, breathing heavily and panting against each other’s lips, the embrace turned into slow and languid open mouth kisses; deliciously lazy and filled the desire that had been suppressed for weeks. 

The pace they set wouldn’t usually have them this close to the edge. The friction, in any other circumstance, wouldn’t have been enough to bring them to orgasm. And yet, moments later they were both riding out the blissful waves of their release together.

They remained silent until unexpected laughter filled the room. Kara hid her face in Lena’s neck while she nuzzled blonde hair. 

“Gosh Lena, premature much?” Kara chuckled as she peppered kisses up and down the column of Lena’s neck. 

With a delighted laugh, Lena swatted Kara’s shoulder playfully but nonetheless relished in the attention her fiancé was giving her. “Don’t start Danvers, you came as quickly as I did.” 

“Hmm, yeah I did,” she punctuated her point with a roll of her hips, which surprisingly drew out a moan from Lena. Kara pulled back with a sly grin on her lips. “Is there something you want, babe?” Kara knew the answer, Lena’s pupils were blown out and there was a dangerous look of unbidden desire that thrilled Kara beyond words. 

“Shut up and take your clothes off,” Lena commanded as she forcefully pushed at Kara’s chest. The totally not embarrassing orgasm they just shared had only made Lena increasingly more hungry for Kara’s touch. Lena needed more, and she needed it _now_.

Sitting up on her knees straddled in Lena’s lap, Kara very slowly and very teasingly pushed her shirt up - that is until Lena sat up, lurched forward and yanked it over Kara’s head, throwing it somewhere. She then took her own sleep shirt off and added it to the pile of discarded clothes. 

Their lips meet in a hot and heavy kiss, the feel of their bare chests pressed together was enough to make Lena’s brain short circuit, which wasn’t surprising considering they had both just come from fully clothed grinding like teenagers. 

“Strap. Now.” Lena perfectly punctuated in between kisses. 

“Where d’you put it?” Kara mumbled against Lena’s mouth, lips barely lifting off of hers, not wanting to break the contact. 

“Dunno.”

Kara squinted and scanned the room, finding the object of their desire in one of Lena’s closets. With the use of super speed, Kara was back atop Lena in just a few seconds, the strap-on harness firmly attached to her hips and the toy teasingly laying against Lena’s stomach. 

“What took you so long?” Lena half-joked as she pulled Kara fully top of her, hands around her neck. 

“Bossy bottom,” Kara teased, bracing herself with her hands on either side of Lena’s shoulders and found herself dictated by how beautiful Lena looked with the orange early morning glow giving the impression that her skin was on fire

“If you don’t fu-” Lena’s words caught in her throat as Kara entered her gradually, and languidly pushed her hips forward until the phallus was fully inside of her. A sigh of contentment spilled past Lena’s lips when their hips slotted together and Kara stayed still, peering down into Lena’s face. She craned her head down lightly bumping their noses together to coax Lena’s eyes open. When she did, Kara flashed her a loving smile that was almost immediately reciprocated. 

They held each other’s gaze as their rampant desire had since shifted from a place of erratic need to something far more passionate and adoring. Bringing their foreheads together, they let their heartbeat slow down, Kara picked up the slight shift in Lena’s breathing she wouldn’t have otherwise heard without her super hearing. Both women would have been content to stay connected this way even if there was no promise of achieving climax; two puzzle pieces clicking into place.

A pleasant shiver ran through Lena’s body as Kara pulled out halfway, rolled her hips, then initiated a slow rhythm. Lena dragged her fingers along Kara’s forearms, feeling the muscles beneath move and shift with each thrust inside of her. Bracing her hands on Kara’s biceps, she lifted her hips from the bed in perfect timing with each movement Kara made, which was the exact moment she realized how much she missed hearing the tiny and barely audible grunts that came out of Kara’s mouth.

Kara brought her lips close to Lena’s ear, and let out a shaky breath, her desire quickly building with every thrust and every squeeze of Lena’s hands on her arms coupled with a throaty moan that never failed to drive Kara absolutely wild. “I missed being inside of you like this.” 

Lena’s hips jerked upwards as Kara’s lips brushed against her ear, the words spoken ignited a spark that promised to set her every nerve ending in her body on fire. 

“You’re so perfect,” Kara tilted her head down and laid a kiss behind Lena’s ear. “And beautiful,” another kiss, a little lower this time. Kara groaned again, much louder, as Lena’s hips pushed the base of the toy against her particularly sensitive core. “And you feel so fucking good,” Kara’s words drawled into a deep moan when Lena’s legs tightened around her hips, bringing their bodies flush against each other and telling Kara exactly what she needed. Gripping the headboard above their heads, the bed hit the wall behind it with every hard thrust of Kara’s hips - and then there was a very distinctive crack.

 _Oops_. 

There were only three things Kara cared about in this exact moment: the constant moans Lena was making, bringing Lena to a life-changing, mind-blowing orgasm, and of course, coming herself. The headboard and the wall of Lena’s bedroom, unfortunately, did not make the list.

“Fuck Kara,” Lena groaned, head rolling back against the pillow. “I’m so close already.”

“Wait for me.” Kara licked at Lena’s lips, slipping her tongue inside as they groaned into each other’s mouths.

“Kara,” Lena pleaded with a gasp, fingernails digging into Kara’s skin and dragging down her toned back. She snaked her hand between their bodies, moving it under the leather straps around Kara’s waist and deftly slipped one finger over the sensitive nub she found with ease.

“Fuck!” Kara hissed in Lena’s ear as she bottomed out on the last two thrusts that sent them both soaring over the edge. 

Kara kept rolling her hips as the waves of her orgasm pulsated through her body, feeling Lena’s muscles tighten, her body rigid underneath her. Moments later, Lena relaxed and melted into Kara’s embrace as she slowly came down from her high. 

“Tell me that wasn’t the drywall I heard cracking,” Lena rasped between deep breaths. Her hands lovingly caressed Kara’s back, her skin was heated but there wasn’t a trace of sweat. It used to make Lena feel self-conscious about herself, but once she realized Kara didn’t care about the sweat that covered Lena’s body after their lovemaking, neither did she.

“Okay. It wasn’t the drywall you heard cracking.” Kara opened one eye to peer up at the splintered headboard and the cracked wall. 

Lena grabbed Kara's chin, laying a quick peck on her lips, smiling and chuckling against her mouth. “I love you.”

“I love you too, Lena,” Kara replied with a serious tone and eyes filled with glee, basking in the warm sensation of finally finding her way back home after months of anguish and repressed pain. 

Lena hugged Kara against her body, a lazy smile stretched across her lips when Kara nuzzled her neck. She had once thought about making a power dampening device, although with everything that happened to Kara, it didn’t feel appropriate. Besides, Lena would gladly have her drywall repaired for the rest of her life if that meant Kara didn’t have to hide or suppress a vital part of who she was. Kara had never hurt her, and she trusted her fully.

And maybe, just maybe, there was a slight probability that Lena found it extremely attractive when Kara couldn’t hold her strength at bay during sex. Furniture be damned. Which is why she had gotten rid of the bed frame after that night. 

The next day when they burst through Lena’s room (and Kara almost blew the door off its hinges when they crashed into it), she noticed the missing furniture immediately. That and the freshly painted wall. Kara picked Lena up, and they both fell onto the mattress laughing. They wrestled each other half-heartedly as if they had no care in the world and Kara let Lena win, enjoying the view of her girlfriend on top of her.

“You didn’t have to do that,” Kara said with a dazzling smile. _Do they make Nth metal bed frames?_

“I wanted to.” Lena leaned down and Kara met her halfway there, pushing herself up until their lips met.

“Let’s get married soon,” Kara said once they broke apart.

“How does next week sound?” Lena half-joked, though she held her breath as she waited for Kara’s answer. 

A brilliant smile broke out on Kara’s face, and Lena decided, as the sun filtered through her large bay windows and brought out Kara’s freckles, that perhaps they could even get married right now. 

Kara shrugged casually, leaning back on her arms. “I’m ready if you are.”

After a moment, Lena said: “Your sister is going to have us maimed and killed.” 

Laughing, Kara snaked one arm around Lena’s waist, letting her hand rest just above the waistline of her pants. “Don’t you talk about my sister when you seductively convinced me to jump into bed with you. It’s a total boner killer.”

Smirking, Lena lifted a brow up and settled both of her hands on Kara’s stomach, fingers playing with the buttons of her shirt “Oh, right, because I’m the one who sent you half a dozen texts today, all of them of very explicit nature.”

Kara tilted her head to the side, instinctively biting her lip when Lena started to unbutton her shirt. “Hmm, what’s your point?” 

“My point is: if I can’t keep my hands off of you after you teased me all day, well, that’s entirely your fault darling.” Moving her head down, she took advantage of Kara’s position to nip and suck her neck as she pulled Kara’s shirt out of her pants.

“And that’s exactly what a heathen with dark motives would say,” Kara’s hand drifted down to cup Lena’s ass, giving it a squeeze and chuckling slightly when Lena moaned into her neck.

“I don’t know about dark per se, but I did bring you in here with a _specific_ goal in mind,” her statement accentuated when she removed Kara’s belt out of the loops of her pants in one quick tug.

“And what’s that goal exactly? World domination?” Kara narrowed her eyes accusingly, though her toothy grin betrayed her. 

Lena leaned down slowly, her hand sliding over Kara’s now bare stomach and up to her chest. Her lips brushed against Kara’s ear as she whispered: “I want you to take me from behind until I scream your name.”

Lena smirked when Kara shivered. When she pulled back, Kara’s pupils dilated instantly, her previously bright blue eyes now almost completely black.

_Checkmate, love._


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lena and Kara prepare for their wedding.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope y'all ain't got diabetes cause this chapter is filled with sweetness, and some smut cause I couldn't help myself. ;) And yes I changed the verb tenses, hopefully, it ain't too awkward but I'm working on changing all previous chapters. FUN!

“This house is nice,” Lena says noncommittally to gage Kara’s genuine reaction. 

The pair is sitting on Kara’s couch, cuddling in matching sweatpants and loose T-shirts as they shop for their first, and hopefully, the only house. The laptop is sitting on Lena’s legs as they each slowly sip their respective cups of wine. The half-empty bottle is sitting by their tangled feet, which are outstretched on the coffee table. 

Kara’s eyes scan the white and grey decor and her nose scrunches up. She decides it lacks warmth. “It’s too...modern.” 

“You mean cold,” Lena guesses correctly, and takes another sip of the wine, fingers moving on the touchpad as she clicks on the next listing. 

“Would you - I mean, what about something outside of the city?” Kara attempts to broach the subject as casually as she can. Truth be told, she misses the peaceful house she grew up in. The large wrap-around porch, the green field and the nearby forest that replaces the pavement and street signs of downtown living. 

They had never talked about this specifically and Kara wasn’t sure how Lena would feel if they chose a house that would be far from her company and livelihood. 

Lena turns her head and her eyes find Kara’s slightly furtive gaze, though she catches glimpse of hopefulness in flecks of cobalt blue. _She really wants this._ Without giving Kara the satisfaction of showing her how quickly she caves at the request, _damn your handsome and adorable puppy dog face_ , she asks: “How far out of the city limits?” 

Kara meets Lena’s gaze and she feels uncharacteristically nervous at being shot down. _Relax, it’s not like you’re asking her hand in marriage - you already did that_. “By a lake? N-not Midvale far. Just outside of the city.” She runs her finger along the rim of her glass absently, “and I know it’s not exactly convenient for you, I was just thinking out loud.” 

“We can look.” Lena turns around to hide the smile that quirks the corner of her lips 

“Really?” Kara asks in a soft tone, and Lena’s heart melts because she sounds like a kid on Christmas morning who just unwrapped the gift they had been waiting for. 

Lena shrugs, attempting to salvage what little remains of her ego. “Seeing as my soon to be wife can fly, I don’t see why commuting is an issue we need to factor in.” 

Kara lowers her voice for dramatic effect and puffs out her chest only because she’s a little selfish and she wants to hear Lena’s laugh. “I’ll fly you to the moon and back, babe.” 

Lena turns, a practiced neutral expression on her face. “I’m breaking up with you. What a shame,” she sighs, but her facade crumbles when Kara kisses her jaw and laughs against her skin. “It was fun while it lasted,” she manages to get out without breaking into a smile but starts laughing when Kara continues her barrage of kisses and frowns slightly when she stops before she gets to her lips. 

Kara’s attention swiftly changes as she points at the laptop’s screen excitedly. “Look at that one, the yard is huge! We could have a fire pit and a dog!” Kara gasps, adorably (in Lena’s humble opinion). “What do you think about getting a dog? We could get a cute little puppy from a shelter.” 

“Let’s focus on finding a home first, darling.” Lena lovingly pats Kara’s cheek without looking at her, but when she feels her lean into the touch she lets her fingers linger a little.

Lena sits up to tuck her feet underneath her, and burrows herself closer to Kara, under the arm that’s resting on the back of the couch. She hears her fiancé humming in what you would assume is agreement, but Lena knows Kara is most definitely going to be looking up puppies on her phone tonight. 

They have time to look at over twenty houses by the time they finish the bottle of wine. Lena’s legs have been thrown over Kara’s lap, but she’s sitting close still, with her head on her shoulder and the laptop behind held by Kara. 

There’s one in particular that stands out, Lena falls in love with the master suite (read as: the very large bath and shower), while Kara is overly passionate about the French doors that open up on a large porch and an even larger backyard that slowly descends into a lake. They bookmark it.

Kara starts getting heavily distracted by the smooth column of Lena’s neck and the slight jump of the vein there. When Lena chides her for sucking a hickey on her collarbone saying ‘we don’t have much time to find a house Kara’, the blonde retorts with ‘we already found the one Lena’ and closes the lid of the laptop with a decisive click. 

Kara’s hand lifts to Lena’s cheek as she pulls her in for a soft and sweet kiss, but when Lena sucks on her bottom lip and makes an appreciative humming sound at the moan that rumbles in Kara’s throat, house shopping is officially over. For tonight, at least. 

Kara pushes Lena’s chest gently, chasing her lips until her back hits the couch. Her hand snakes its way under Lena’s shirt, squeezing her breast and smiling into the kiss when Lena arches her back into her when her thumb makes a pass over the already hard nipple. 

“I bet you’re already wet for me,” Kara whispers against the shell of Lena’s ear, who responds by tangling her fingers in blonde locks. 

Kara briefly considers sliding her hand under the loose waistband of Lena’s waistband to test her theory, but instead, she bunches up the shirt over the already heaving chest and trails her lips across the uncovered skin, nipping and sucking all the places she knows will make Lena’s breath hitch. And as per usual, it does. 

Lena lifts her ass off of the couch as Kara pulls back and tugs on the material of her sweatpants until they’re violently discarded behind Kara, who in the same motion, scoots lower and trails her tongue around Lena’s stomach. She slips both thumbs under the panties and - 

“Kara don’t -”

Kara rips them in one swift motion, and through the look in her eyes is somewhat apologetic Lena knows it’s all manufactured ploy. Before she can say anything a warm mouth is on her clit. _Panties? What panties?_

“What was that?” Kara teases, expertly sliding around the sensitive flesh and the wet folds that make Lena’s hip jump and buck against her face. 

“Fuck - Kara, your mouth -”

Her chuckle turns into a groan when she tastes Lena on her tongue. She pushes her hand down on her hip as Lena’s fingers tangle deeper into her hair, pulling hard enough Kara can feel the pressure that never fails to make her own clit throb painfully. 

Kara, the ever so focused lover, pushes her own pleasure aside and focuses on making her tongue dance around the familiar flesh until Lena’s writhing uncontrollably underneath her deft mouth, mumbling nonsense between drawled moans after several minutes. 

Kara knowingly curls two fingers inside of her and nips at the spot just above Lena’s hip bone. Fingers dig down into Kara’s scalp and thighs simultaneously trap her head in place as Lena comes undone with a choked and breathless cry. 

“Shit Kara,” Lena speaks through laboured breaths, unable or perhaps unwilling to form a proper sentence as the pleasant aftermath of the orgasm makes her skin tingle.

“That bad?” Kara teases with a fake pout. 

Lena rolls her eyes fondly, grabbing Kara’s face with her hands and pulling her in for a slippery kiss. She pulls back when she needs air and wipes herself off of Kara’s chin. “Messy eater.” 

“I didn’t hear you complaining a minute ago.” 

“Hm, catch me _not_ complaining in your bed,” Lena shuffles herself out from under Kara, who then promptly chases her into the bedroom. Lena is tackled on the bed and lively laughter fills the small loft as they share slow kisses that quickly turn into something more. 

Kara lets Lena straddle her and consume her completely, slowly and teasingly bringing her close to the edge. Lena’s fingers could move around Kara’s body blindfolded and still find every spot that makes her hips twitch in desperate need for friction, or elicit a loud and pleasurable groan that makes Lena’s concentration falter just for a moment. 

It took a long time for Kara to let herself lose all control when their relationships became physical many months ago, to let Lena drive her body and drift around every curve until she couldn’t form a single coherent thought. The labour-intensive results of building mutual trust are nothing short of explosive and tonight is no different.

Kara wraps her arms around Lena protectively, holding her close to her heart as she slowly comes down from her high. Part of her finds it hard to believe they’ll be married soon, that someone who sees her, the real her, is willing to love every flaw the same way they cherish her strengths. 

“I’ll call the agent and schedule a visit,” Lena mentions sleepily, letting Kara’s warm and strong presence lull her into peaceful rest. 

Kara spends a few hours looking at puppies in nearby shelters on her phone as soon as Lena drifts off, idly tracing her fingers up and down her back, soft snoring and the occasional ‘aww’ coming out of Kara’s mouth are the only sounds in the quiet room. 

* * *

The next morning, Kara is hurriedly getting dressed for work when they both managed to sleep through their first, second and then third alarms. 

“Lena,” Kara calls out from the bedroom, “do you know where my belt is? The brown one I like.” 

“Second drawer down,” is heard from the bathroom. 

“There it is!” Kara exclaims, slipping the belt through the loops of her khaki slacks. 

Lena walks into the bedroom, stuffing the navy blouse into her skirt. Her eyes fall on Kara’s backside, only for a little while though. _Supergirl really has the world’s greatest ass._ “Why is it that I know where your own clothes are better than you do?”

Kara turns around, arms folded over her polka-dotted button-up shirt. She forgets what she was going to say for a brief second as her gaze lands on Lena’s form. _Why_ _is my girlfriend so hot?_ “Because you rearranged everything in there since apparently it wasn’t ‘organized’ enough,” she retorts with mock annoyance. 

Lena scoffs and rolls her eyes, catching the way blue eyes rake over her body in a way that would have Lena push Kara down on the bed and ravish her until her name was the only thing coming out of Kara’s mouth if they weren’t already extremely late for work. “Kara, you had your jeans folded in a drawer with loose socks,” Lena explains tight-lipped as if it was the worst criminal offence in history. 

“I fail to see your point, but I’m running late and you’re wonderful and I love you and I’ll see you later!” The words rush out of Kara’s mouth quickly as she hops around the room while she’s slipping her shoes on, slings her carrier bag over her shoulder and assaults Lena with a few kisses and a single ass grope for good luck. 

Lena, a little flustered by Kara’s attention, remembers how to formulate words with her mouth and calls out to Kara’s retreating back: “Don’t forget the suit fitting, and we’re visiting the house tonight at seven!” 

“Yes dear, love of my life, I won’t forget!” Lena hears Kara chirp happily seconds before she’s out of the door. 

_God, who let me fall in love with this gorgeous idiot?_

Lena clips in her earrings, unhurried to get to work. She’s the CEO, after all, so her nine o’clock was going to have to wait. The more they stew about and wait for her, the more she seems intimidating when she walks in the conference room as if they were the least important thing on her agenda. 

Lena slogs through three unbearably long meetings and welcomes the distraction by way of text that Kara sends her throughout the day. 

_K.D: wow this place has wine? Who drinks wine while a stranger takes your crotch measurements? Trick question: it’s ME!_ 🤭

_K.D: FYI I am in no way enjoying this stranger’s hands_

_K.D: what are you up to? Off work? Dress shopping yet?_ 👀 _Alex isn’t replying to me and J’onn is being annoyingly secretive..._ 😤🧐

The only text Lena replies to is this one: 

_K.D: Can I send you a picture of the shoes?_

_L.L: No._ ❤️

 _K.D:_ 😫

_K.D: Danvers-Luthor or Luthor-Danvers?_

Lena enters her office with a smile on her lips and her eyes glued to her phone’s screen. She opens the messaging app when the door to her office creaks open behind her back and she jumps a little at the intrusion.

“Sam? What are you doing here?” Lena’s face falls when they zero in on the smiling brunette. If Sam was in National City before the wedding, it must mean she couldn’t make it. 

Wordlessly, Sam pulls the wedding invitation out of her purse, one eyebrow lifted while she points at the date printed in an elegant cursive font. “Really? One week?”

“Did you come all the way here to yell at me?” Lena sets her phone down on the corner of her desk and turns around to lean against it. “If so, I’m sorry to inform you that Alex already beat you to it.” 

Lena rememberers Alex’s exact words: _“Did you two idiots suffer a concussion? One week is not enough to get everything ready. I hate you both so damn much. Like I could really punch you in the tits right now, but here’s the plan…”_

“Well,” Sam drawls, a secretive smile stretches across her lips as she stalks closer to Lena’s position. “It was short notice and I’m sure my boss hates me, but I took the week off to help.” 

Lena’s mouth hangs open for a moment before she practically hurls herself in the other woman’s arms and pulls her into a tight hug. “Sam,” Lena breaths and chides herself for the slight cracking in her voice, “you didn’t have to.” She pulls back slightly and watches the same emotions displayed in Sam’s eyes. “What about Ruby, where is she?”

“Helping Alex with decorations until we go dress shopping.” Sam subtly wipes a tear from the corner of her eye with her index finger. Her smile warms at the brilliant green eyes that bore into hers. “And I didn’t have to Lena, I _wanted_ to.”

Without Alex and Kelly’s help, she and Kara would probably have gotten married at the courthouse, signed the papers, then made love all night and called it a day. That option was looking particularly appealing right about now. 

“Right, of course, the decorations and the dress.” _Fuck am I having a panic attack? I’m definitely having a panic attack._

Sam’s brow crinkles in worry as she watches her friend slump back against her desk, hand on her chest. “Lena, what’s wrong? You’re really pale.” 

“Yes, yes, I’m fine,” though her heart rate says otherwise. “I’m just overwhelmed, I suppose.” There was so much to do in five days, since she and Kara spend the last two off work and lazing around like a bunch of teenagers, chasing each other around Lena’s penthouse and making love on every surface imaginable. 

“Take deep breaths,” Sam speaks calmly, rubbing her hand up and down Lena’s back in slow circles. “We’ll focus on one thing at a time, and next thing you know you’ll be walking down the aisle.” 

Green eyes move to Sam’s gentle expression. “I’m getting married.” 

“Nervous?” 

“About marrying Kara? No,” Lena chuckles, unable to stop the smile from appearing on her face at the thought. “The wedding is going to be out in the open and _public_ , I’m just overthinking.” She brushes off the concern, but she knows Sam can see right through her as Lena bites her bottom lip. 

Even though Sam moved from National City after the Reign debacle, they would often catch up over conference calls and short visits here and there over the years. 

“What are you really worried about?” Sam asks as both of them move to sit on Lena’s couch. 

Lena uncharacteristically slumps back against the somewhat stiff cushions. “They already badgered us when they noticed the engagement ring. I don’t want Kara to have to deal with reporters at our wedding.”

“It’ll blow over like it did last time,” Sam offers with a nonchalant wave of her hand. She knew how Lena’s mind worked, especially her ridiculous anxieties. “And you’re marrying a Kryptonian, she can just toss them out on their asses.” Sam smiles at Lena’s laugh. 

“As much as I’d love to see that, Kara disappearing at her own wedding and Supergirl showing up would be a little hard to explain.” 

Sam nods, though her suggestion was a joke to lighten the mood she understands the implications behind Lena’s words. “All I’m saying is that this is your night, it’s about you and Kara. Focus on her, focus on _that_ , and enjoy yourself. You only have one wedding, and besides, we’re getting you so drunk you won’t even notice the press.” 

Lena picks up her head at that comment, arching an eyebrow at her friend. “I knew you had ulterior motives.”

“Well, I learned from the best,” Sam winks and accepts the playful slap to her abdomen as punishment. Her cell phone’s buzzing saves her from whatever Lena was planning behind those narrowed eyes. “The girls are ready.” 

Lena, with renewed vigour, springs up from her seat and opens the door, motioning for Sam to go on ahead of her. “Shall we?” 

Sam bows her head slightly in mock bashfulness. “So courteous, Miss Luthor.” 

They leave the office laughing, arms hooked together loosely.

_I’m about to go shopping for a wedding dress. For myself. My wedding dress. The one I’m going to wear when I marry Kara._

Lena fights against the sudden attack of butterflies in her stomach but fails miserably. 

_I’m fine_. _This is fine. I will definitely not cry in front of everyone today. I don’t cry in front of people except for Kara, who I’m about to marry._

Lena cries on the way there. 

* * *

_Wow, they serve wine here._

Kara distracts herself by sending every thought she has by text to Lena, which doesn’t help when her future wife leaves her on ‘read’ all day. 

Kara watches her reflection in the fitting room’s large mirror. The white fabric of the button-down shirt hanging off of her body, not quite right in a few places, and she convinces herself that the Girl of Steel can’t possibly be having pre-wedding nerves. 

The tailor’s hands move around her shoulders and pinch the material just right, pinning it with a needle as a guideline. 

“Nervous?” J’onn’s deep and calming voice pulls Kara from her thoughts, and she turns to stare at his reflection. The dark suit fits him almost perfectly, apart from the length of the slacks. 

“What? Oh, huh, sorry I’m just -“ Kara takes a deep breath, ignoring the tailor's knowing smirk. He pulls the material on either side of her hips and pins it behind her so the shirt curves around her body snugly. “I want everything to be perfect, you know? The last few months have been hard on Lena, I’ve been hard on her,” Kara adds quietly as she meets J’onn soft eyes. “I want her to remember this day as the happiest moment of her life. She deserves it and she’s been through so much, it’s the least I can do.”

“For what’s it’s worth, I’m proud of the woman you’ve become and I’m certain you’ll make a wonderful, loving and caring wife. You have nothing to worry about.” 

Kara clenches her jaw tightly, but that doesn’t prevent tears from shining in her eyes. The tailor backs away and leaves on the pretence of double-checking measurements but Kara is suspicious he senses they need a moment. 

She wraps her arms around J’onn’s waist and feels strong arms around her as she presses her face into his shoulder. “Thank you for doing this with me,” she mumbles into the material of his suit. 

All the women wanted to go dress shopping with Lena, and she couldn’t blame them, though she was glad to have J’onn’s comforting presence by her side.

“I know I have no right to say this, Kara, but you truly are like a daughter to me.” 

Kara laughs but it sounds closer to a sob. “Okay first, making me cry before my wedding, intentionally or not, is totally unfair.”

“And what’s the second thing?” He asks, which is practically pointless because he’s at least one hundred percent sure he knows the answer. 

“I love you.” 

Once they part, Kara picks up on a heartbeat she hasn’t heard in a while. It’s quicker than usual, though.

“Mom!” Kara exclaims joyfully, throwing herself into Eliza’s arms. 

Eliza lets her daughter practically squeeze the air out of her lungs. “Hi, sweetie. Let me look at you,” she pulls back from the embrace, both hands on Kara’s arms. 

There are already tears in her eyes and Kara wonders how many times the members of her family are going to make her cry this week. _Earth weddings are really emotional._

“You are going to be absolutely stunning,” Eliza says with nothing but pride and adoration. 

“I thought you weren’t getting in ‘till tomorrow?”

Eliza moves stands of loose blonde hair away from Kara’s face. “Your fiancé might have sent me the address and time of your suit fitting and I couldn’t miss it.” 

_Note to self: kiss Lena when I see her._ Kara notes silently as if it wasn’t something she’d instinctively do regardless of the situation. 

Kara drags her into her arms again, whispering: “I’m so glad you’re here.” 

“Alright, enough with the hugging people, you’re going to crease the material!” The tailor claps his hands and pushes Kara back onto the elevated platform in the middle of the room, unbeknownst that she lets _him_ move _her_ around. “Up, up! Miss Luthor will have my head if this isn’t perfect.” 

_She really would,_ Kara thinks with a love-struck grin while J’onn and Eliza chuckle at the accuracy of that statement.

* * *

Alex pushes Lena into the dressing room with the guise of wanting to zip up the seventh dress she tries on, but really she just needs a quiet moment away from all the chaos outside. When she notices Lena’s shoulder slump and head hang forward, she realizes she wasn’t the only one who needed a breather. 

Silently, Alex slides the zipper up and is pleasantly surprised by how easily it does so with little resistance. The corset is almost a perfect fit around Lena’s torso and hips. 

She then turns Lena around with both hands on her shoulders. And when green eyes look up at her expectantly, she can’t find the right words to describe how beautifully the dress fits her body. 

“How does it look?” Lena asks, looking down at herself then back up to Alex, who has an oddly intense look about her. “I take it it’s time for the shovel talk now that you have me alone and cornered?” Lena half-jokes with a slight quirk to her lips. 

“What? No, no, no. Kara means so much to mean, she’s literally my favourite person in the entire world. I would do anything for her, even if it means putting myself at risk. I’m saying this because I’ve seen you do the exact same thing for her and I know, beyond the shadow of a doubt, you make her unbelievably happy. And I just want you to know that you’ve been part of the Danvers family long before she put that ring on your finger.” 

Lena chuckles teary-eyed and pulls Alex in the tightest hug she can muster, which she returns in full. “How are all Danvers women so good with emotional speeches?” 

Alex laughs, arms around Lena’s waist and she’s shocked at how familiar it all feels. “Wait until you meet my mother.” 

Lena groans and hides her face in Alex’s shoulder. “Oh, God.” 

“Relax. She’ll love you.”

“How are you so sure? I’m basically stealing her daughter away and I never even met the woman except for exchanging a few emails with her in the last day or two.”

“I’m sure because I love you, and just like me she’s a great judge of character.” 

Lena chokes back more tears and decides a little payback is in order. “I never had a sister Alex, or knew what it was like to be loved like one,” Alex’s eyes are already filling but Lena continues, her voice laced with the same candor and adoration Alex has shown her moments before, “and now I know.” 

They share a tight embrace, the myriad of emotions they both went through over the past few months dissolving and making space for the beginning of a loving bond as it envelops them with trust and honesty.

Sam’s voice cuts through the emotionally thick moment: “Are you two done in there? Or should I tell Kara the wedding is off because her future wife eloped with her sister instead?” 

Both women laugh heartily as they break apart and the brilliant smile Alex gives Lena reminds her of the woman she’s about to marry. A warm feeling washes over her and Lena concludes this is what it feels like to be genuinely cared for and accepted.

* * *

“Hi,” Kara greets with a grin, her hand slipping in Lena’s as they meet in front of the house they’re about to visit. They had travelled to the house separately seeing as Kara’s suit is in her car and didn’t trust Lena not to peek - and neither did Lena. “How was dress shopping?”

“Good. How was the fitting?”

“Good.”

They share a knowing smile and a brief kiss. _So they made you cry too, huh?_ Kara would say if she didn’t already see the answer clear as day in Lena’s sparkling emerald eyes. 

“Danvers,” Lena says, as they slowly walk up the gravel driveway, and curses her choice of footwear, but then she feels Kara’s hand on her back to steady her and suddenly Lena doesn’t mind how her heels awkwardly dig into the rocks. 

“What?” Kara asks with an adorably confused expression. 

“I want to have Danvers. Just Danvers.” Lena stops the yelp that threatens to come out of her mouth when Kara abruptly stops and she nearly topples over. 

Kara instinctively grips Lena’s waist, her mouth opening and closing as she desperately tries to find the right words. “Lena, are - are you sure?”

“Absolutely.” Lena lifts her chin and lays a sweet kiss on Kara’s mouth. 

A voice interrupts them, unbothered by the display of affection. “Good evening Miss Danvers,” the real estate agent greets them on the porch and shakes Kara’s hand and then turns towards Lena, “and you must be Miss Luthor,” he grasps her hand just as eagerly. 

“It’s Danvers,” Lena says, and she knows if she looks at Kara right now they’ll both breakdown, so she focuses on the man standing in front of them: tall and framed in a clean pressed suit and a large smile on his clean-shaven face. 

“Newlywed?” He asks casually while he leads them inside and closes the door behind the couple. 

“In five days,” Kara says, willing her mouth and brain to cooperate after the bombshell that Lena just dropped on her. _This woman is going to be the death of me._

And sure, maybe there wasn’t a grand significance behind it, but Kara knew better. Lena was moving forward with her life, leaving her past behind and bringing Kara along for the ride. A ride she was beyond excited to embark on with Lena by her side. 

“Well, in that case, wait until you see the backyard. And If I may,” he lowers his voice as if they weren’t the only people there, “it’s a perfect spot for a wedding party. Especially when the sun goes down, absolutely gorgeous!”

As they are given a very animated tour of the house, Lena wonders why they’ve bothered visiting when they knew it was perfect, to begin with. 

She watches Kara in the empty living room and though there it's completely bare and void of any furniture, it already inexplicably and irrevocably feels like home. Kara’s face lights up as the agent mentions something about the floors and Lena is picturing family dinners, holidays, quiet evenings by the lake, and before she knows it she’s typing an email to her notary. 

“Lena this is real hardwood,” Kara says excitedly as she turns to her. “It’s so beautiful!” And when Lena picks her head up and closes her phone she agrees that the sight in front of her is indeed beautiful.

Kara doesn’t notice the loving gaze trained on her as she keeps on rambling energetically. “And look at all the space outside! We can have cookouts and we’ll make so much food, like _all_ the food.” Kara pauses to sigh wistfully. “It’s perfect. It reminds me of home.”

Lena grabs Kara’s hand and intertwines their fingers together. “We’ll take it,” she says to the real estate agent whose name escapes her because Kara is pressing a kiss to her temple and squeezing her hand in agreement. 

“Excuse me?” He asks Lena to repeat, making sure he wasn’t hearing things. They haven’t even visited the second floor yet. 

“We’re buying it. Whatever the owners are asking for, offer fifty more.” She raises an eyebrow when Kara gives her a look. “You said it yourself, it’s perfect. I’m not waiting until someone sweeps it up from under our noses.” Lena turns to the agent whose mouth is still slightly agape. “When can we move in?”

“What did you say your last name was?” He stammers slightly. 

“Danvers. Lena Danvers.” 


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the countdown to the wedding begins.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The one filled with fluff and Danvers sisters bickering.

4 days until the wedding

“She lives!” Kara exclaims and Lena groans as she shuffles into the kitchen the next morning, bleary-eyed, into Kara’s open arms. “But does she speak?” Her answer was another groan as Lena nuzzles herself deeper into her neck. 

Dinner with Eliza was lovely, everyone but Kelly and Kara got absolutely hammered to the point where her adoptive mother happily recounted embarrassing stories about her daughters. A ‘preview of what’s to come at your wedding’, Alex had explained with a slur. After asking why humans are so weird and not getting an answer, Kara urged both her mother and her fiancé to bed, but not before she forced them to drink some water.

Kara’s phone buzzes and she fishes it from the back pocket of her jeans jeans. She flips open the messaging app with her thumb, running her hand up and down Lena’s back soothingly with the other, erupting in sudden laughter when her eyes land on the picture of Alex sleeping with her mouth wide open and the caption ‘dead to the world’ underneath it. 

Another disgruntled groan comes from Lena at the sound blaring in her ears, but Kara deliberately ignores her and chuckles when she retaliates by flicking her ribs with not so gentle intentions. 

_K.O: how’s yours?_

Kara opens the camera on her phone and turns it towards her, snapping a picture of her bright smile and the mass of tangled raven hair on her chest. She sends it to Kelly with the caption ‘alive and not well’. 

_K.D: it looks like her soul escaped her body!!!_ 🤣 _We'll be at the house in a few hours if you wanna come over._

_K.O: we'll be there!_

“How do you kids do this?” Eliza whines as she sits up on the couch, instantly regretting it when her stomach protests at the sudden movement. 

“Tell your _daughter_ to lend us some of that Kryptonian constitution,” Lena grumbles from the confines of Kara’s neck. 

“Even if she could, she wouldn't.”

“God, you’re right.” Lena pulls back from the warm embrace in favor of glaring at Kara for something she hasn’t done, her tired eyes are accusing when they meet Kara’s innocent face. Nonetheless, she extracts herself from her traitor of a girlfriend and joins Eliza on the couch as she pats the empty cushion beside her. 

“Ah, the wonderful human tradition of bonding over hangovers!” Kara exclaims and sneaks a picture of Lena and her mother leaning against each other with pained expressions on their faces. _That’ll do nicely as blackmail,_ Kara thinks as she pockets the phone and plasters a dazzling smile on her face. “So, ladies! Pancakes or eggs?” Both women protest very loudly as if Kara had asked them to go on a morning run.

Lena slumps further on the couch, “now she wants to poison us.” 

“Hey! I can cook up a mean breakfast you know,” Kara vehemently defends, waving around the plastic spatula she’s holding.

“Of course, darling.”

“Is that sarcasm I hear? I’m pretty sure that was sarcasm.” Kara huffs, pulling out a pan from one of the cupboards and closing it louder than was actually necessary. “One less pancake for you,” she says with no bitterness whatsoever. 

“Tyrant.” 

“Love you too honey,” Kara chirps sweetly and begins to make an unnecessary amount of noise as she diligently prepares a very large breakfast - mostly for her own benefit. Several pillows are thrown at her back, but that doesn’t deter Kara from howling lyrics to various songs, one in particular that causes Lena to glare at the back of her head. 

_“If I go crazy then will you still call me Supergirl!”_

Lena turns to Eliza with a practiced look of cold stoicism and shrugs at the expression she’s receiving. “She’s your daughter.” 

After a mountain of food is consumed and a sufficient amount of caffeine is moving through Eliza and Lena’s veins, they’re finally ready to step out into the bright and sunny world and pretend that they don’t want to curl up in a ball and die. 

Kara gives Lena an excited smile as they approach the parked Jaguar, and of course, Lena can’t possibly say no to the request that’s evident in her eyes. She throws Kara the keys, not bothering to look if she caught them. She slides into the passenger’s side of the luxury vehicle and lets out a dramatic sigh, leaning her head against the closed window.

Kara almost purrs as she leans back into the snug leather seat that seems to hug her muscular body in all the right places. “Buckle up ladies!” 

“Kara, darling,” Lena starts with a tone Kara lovingly refers to as the ‘honey don’t do this voice’, dropping her hand on Kara’s thigh. “Please don’t make any harsh maneuvers. I’d rather not vomit in my own car.” A beat. “In front of your mother no less.” 

Kara presses her hand to her chest, holding back her laughter. “I would never!”

Lena is not convinced and neither is Eliza, who’s already clutching ‘oh shit’ handle. The drunk duo somehow survives the trip without asking Kara to pull over so they can throw up on the side of the road. When they change from the pavement to the dirt road that leads to their house, they send a few silent prayers out to heaven and wish for a quick and painless death. 

But, Kara can drive stick smoothly and it isn’t as bumpy as it could have been so Lena lets Kara hold her hand over the gear stick, forcing herself not to smile when soft lips press against her fingers. Unsurprisingly, she fails miserably and opts for looking at Kara with a stupid love-sick smile. 

They pull up into the large driveway which is currently occupied by two vans as six people are busy unloading several pieces of furniture they had purchased the day before. 

“I’ll take care of it,” Kara says as she unbuckles her seat belt and opens the door, her sneakers crunching against the gravel underneath her foot and it sounds like nails on a chalkboard to Lena. 

“Good, because I have zero intentions of socializing today.” Lena blows out a breath, rubbing at her temple. 

“Good afternoon, miss,” of them greets. “If you unlock the door I can get my guys to move everythin’ inside for ya.” 

“Oh that won’t be necessary, just leave it here.” Kara brushes his offer off, knowing it would be much quicker if she did it herself and she figures that Lena and her mother aren't in the mood to wait for them to bring everything in the house at a leisurely pace that humans usually move heavy furniture at.

The man grips the bill of his cap, lifting it up slightly as he scratches his airline and eyes the other two women in the car who look positively useless. “You got some help comin’?”

“Nah, I’m Supergirl,” Kara jokes with a sweet smile and a slight puff of her chest. 

The man throws his head back laughing and pushes a clipboard into Kara’s hands. “Eh, you’d put us out of a job if you were. I just need your signature here and here and we’ll be out of your hair.” He explains, scribbling down X’s where Kara’s signature is required before tilting the pen towards her. 

He watches as Kara quickly makes pen strokes that somewhat resemble letters in the English alphabet. Taking the clipboard back once she’s done, he tips his hat at her with a large smile. “That’ll be all. Thank you miss.” 

Kara sends a wave when the vans pull out of the driveway, leaving a mild cloud of dust behind them. 

Lena reluctantly steps out of the car and approaches Kara, leaning into her side. “Darling,” she speaks in that sweet voice that tells Kara she’s about to demand something, which is totally different from Lena _asking_ something. “Could you be a dear and bring the couch in first?”

“Aye aye, captain!” Not waiting to hear Lena’s annoyed groan, Kara effortlessly hoists the couch over her head with one hand, loving the way the private lot makes it easier for her to do Supergirl things without having to worry about prying eyes. 

She takes the sectional around the back and through the large French doors on the patio, following the spot Lena points to with her finger once she enters the living room, setting it down on the shining hardwood floor carefully. 

Despite the large aviators covering her eyes, Kara can see the hungry look she sends her way when she pulls down the t-shirt that had ridden up her stomach. She opens her mouth to say something when she’s suddenly pulled forward by her belt loops. 

Lena places her hand on Kara’s stomach, leaning towards the object of her affection as if she and Kara are opposite poles of a magnetic field. “If I wasn’t so hungover I’d let you have your way with me on that couch,” her voice is low, but not low enough _apparently._

“My mother is right behind you,” Kara grimaces, then adds: “and definitely heard.” 

“We brought wine, right?” Lena inquires, her back stiffens as her lips close in a tight line.

Eliza has a blank expression on her face as she walks past them and wishes to she could pay to get her memory wiped.

Kara laughs very loudly, and obnoxiously, while Lena lets her head fall on Kara’s upper chest.

“I’m never drinking again,” she lies. 

Kara laughs louder. 

* * *

Later that day when everyone starts to feel more and more like human beings and less like unproductive members of society, they go out into the yard as the sun is slowly setting on the horizon, painting the sky a vivid swirl of oranges, yellows, and purples.

Kelly, Alex, Sam, and Ruby arrived just before dinner with takeout for everyone and doubling Kara’s order per her request. Eliza, Kelly, and Lena are sitting on the porch, nestling wine at a much slower pace than last night as they watch Alex and Kara argue about the friendly football match that hasn’t yet started.

“No powers,” Alex warns with a finger pointed at her sister’s smirking face. 

“No powers,” Kara promises, lifting both of her hands in the air innocently as if she had never used her super speed or strength to beat Alex at an arbitrary game.

“I’m with Sam,” Alex says, pulling the woman to her side by her wrist and somehow Samantha knows she’s being used to fuel this Danvers sister rivalry, but she doesn’t mind it that much. 

The two teams part ways and Kara hunches over, hands on her knees as she speaks to Ruby in hushed tones. “It’s you and me, kid. Let’s kick their asses and wipe those smug looks off of their faces.” Kara lifts her hand closed into a loose fist, bumping her knuckles with the laughing girl. 

When Kara looks up, feeling Lena’s gaze on her, she winks at her fiancé who replies by blowing her a kiss. Kara clutches her hand over her chest and lets herself fall on the grass-covered ground, and though she may look a fool, Lena's laugh was definitely worth it. 

Ruby grabs her wrist and Kara lets her pull her up onto her feet. “Aunt Kara,” Ruby whines, “be serious, we have to win this.”

“You’re right,” Kara narrows her eyes, game face firmly on. “I let my emotions get the best of me. I’m sorry and it won’t happen again.” 

With a nod and a loud ‘break’ from both teams, they start the game which becomes rapidly lopsided in Kara and Ruby’s favor, or ‘Team Super’, as they named themselves. Alex yells from their side of the ‘field’ that Kara unfairly swayed Ruby to take all the glory for herself, while Kara gives her a shrug and a sweet smile, knowing the accusations are false since she let Ruby score every touchdown. 

On the next play, Kara feigns a throw and lobs the football at Ruby who catches it. She makes a run for it, cradling the ball close to her side while Kara easily blocks both Alex and Sam. The running back is forgotten by both defenders as they pile onto Kara and she gallantly lets them tackle her to the ground. Alex traps her in a headlock while Sam sits on her back and tickles her ribs. 

Ruby turns to give her teammate an apologetic look as she continues to run down the ‘field’, football under her arm. 

“It’s okay Ruby, leave me behind! Save yourself!” Kara shouts through giggles. 

The trio on the porch watch the game with amused grins, adoring looks, and occasional laughter. 

“I just don’t see where I failed as a mother,” Eliza says with mock seriousness. 

“Well,” Lena drawls, “I would wager that your first mistake was adopting Kara.”

Eliza hums in agreement as she watches Kara turn towards them and get distracted by Lena for the third time. Alex runs into her, but unfortunately, she collides with the rock-solid wall that is the girl of steel and she’s the one who falls to the ground, cursing loudly at her sister. Kara turns to Alex laughing and shouts ‘Ah! Peasant!’ But she helps her up anyways. 

“They’re horrible,” Kelly sighs dramatically. 

“I can’t believe I’ll be stuck with _that_ for the rest of my life.” Lena drops the act once a chuckle bubbles to the surface and both women soon join her. 

“This is a really beautiful home you picked, Lena,” Kelly compliments, admiring the cozy architecture and the very large backward. 

“It has Kara written all over it,” Eliza guesses correctly with a small wink sent Lena’s way. 

“You would be correct,” Lena chuckles as she fingers the rim of the wine glass absently. 

“I hear Luthors are vulnerable to Supers,” Kelly teases.

“Also correct,” but Lena wouldn’t have it any other way. 

When they deem the game to be over, they join the rest of the group on the porch. Everyone except for Kara exhibit signs of physical exhaustion, sweaty and heaving, while the hero looks as though she hadn’t so much as lifted a finger. The only evidence pointing towards the fact that she was even part of the game is the mussed blonde hair on her head and the grass stains on her crumpled clothes. 

“Had fun?” Lena questions with a quirked eyebrow. 

“Yeah,” Kara flops down next to her, throwing an arm around the back of the bench. “Why didn’t you two join us?” She inquires, her eyes darting between Lena and Kelly.

“It would be rude to leave your mother alone,” Lena claims with a poorly hidden smile.

“Right,” Kara narrows her eyes suspiciously but gives Lena a quick peck on the lips regardless. 

“Next time perhaps,” she shrugs innocently, leaning into Kara. 

“I’ll hold you to that,” Kara delivers with a pleased smile and drops a kiss on Lena’s exposed shoulder.

“Shots anyone?”

They all crane their heads towards Alex, holding up a liquor bottle, a crazed expression on her face and several shots wedged between her fingers. Kara turns to Lena with a worried expression on her face. 

* * *

3 days until the wedding

“Just let me grab it, Kara.” 

“I got this one, Alex.” 

“There are like twenty others around, let me bring this one.”

“Exactly, pick another one.” 

“You stubborn little sh—“

“It’s full of sex toys!” Kara suddenly blurts out, clutching the box to her chest and out of her sister’s grasp.

Alex's eyes close and her jaw tightens momentarily but she remains silent in fear of what she might say. She stands up and wordlessly picks up another box labeled ‘Lena’s clothes’ and walks out of the master suite without so much as a glance in Kara’s direction. 

“What’s the matter, Alex?” Kara teases, catching up to her in the living room after grabbing a few more boxes and pulling them on. “You don’t want the box anymore?”

“Fuck off, you’re nasty,” Alex growls, still unable to acknowledge her sister as a person after what just transpired. _I'm going to need so much therapy._

“Mom! Alex doesn’t wanna help out with the boxes!” 

“Mom! Kara is bullying me and she’s being gross!”

Eliza diligently ignores her daughters for the sake of her sanity and instead turns to Lena, both of them standing behind the kitchen island. “Do you think your new tenants would want two children?”

Lena snorts, fighting off a grin. “I doubt I have enough power to sway anyone in taking those two in.” 

Eliza sighs as she empties the cupboard filled with dishes. “Worth a try.” 

Sam reenters the penthouse through the front door and immediately walks up to Kara when she sees her carrying a stack of boxes that are pilled well over her head. “Here, let me grab that,” and reaches towards the ‘sin box’.

“NO!” Alex and Kara shout in perfect unison. 

Kara forces an awkward laugh out, “sorry it’s just - ah, there’s more in the bedroom. I got this.” 

“Okay, weirdos.” Sam retorts and brushes past them with a shake of her head.

“Ignore them, they drink,” Lena responds drily as she helps Eliza neatly stack the dishware in the empty box sitting on the counter. 

After a long day of moving a large amount of Lena’s personal belongings to their house, they have a relaxing evening by the lake. The peaceful sounds of nature and the blanket of stars over their heads washing away all the day’s stress _and_ mortification. Such as the sex toy incident, or Sam walking in on Lena and Kara making out and groping each other on their brand new couch. 

With their guests sleeping right down the hall Kara didn’t feel comfortable being intimate with her soon to be wife, which brought on a whole world of problems, like sexual tension bubbling up to the surface and neither of them having the will nor the strength to stop it. 

When Kara goes to the bathroom, Lena ducks inside and pushes her against the wall, her lips attacking Kara’s neck as if her survival depends on it. 

When Lena is walking along the lake early in the morning, her fingers lightly gripping her coffee mug, Kara abruptly pins her against a tree and ravages her mouth like she’s parched and Lena’s her sustenance. 

Lena assures Kara that ‘there’s no need to worry, I can be quiet’ while Kara laughs loudly at the bold and totally false claim, replying with ‘babe, you don’t know what quiet is’. They both drop the subject entirely. 

Kara's head is on Alex’s shoulder, both of them are sitting on the edge of the wooden dock. Kara’s arms are resting on her propped up knees, one hand holding her wrist while the other has a bottle of beer dangling from it. 

Alex supports herself with an arm behind her, one knee bent and the other leg outstretched and hanging off the edge of the dock. She tips her head back, taking a pull of the beer and enjoys the way the moon sparkles on the dark ripples of the water’s surface. 

“How are you feeling?” Alex inquires in a hushed tone as if they weren’t the only ones there. 

“Better,” Kara answers after a short moment.

“Yeah?”

“Yeah,” is said decisively enough to ease her sister’s worries. “It was just so easy to push every feeling I had down and forget about it. But ignoring the bad means I ignored the good too and before I knew it I became numb to everything.”

“You are a stubborn ass when you want to be,” Alex knocks their shoulders together lightly, smiling when Kara chuckles. “You know I’m always here for you, no matter what.” 

“I know.” 

“Even if you wanted me to carry your box of...sin,” Alex makes a face and wills the images out of her head as soon as they come in. 

“Shut up,” Kara laughs into her bottle. 

Once their laughter dies down, Alex’s voice takes on a sincere tone. “But seriously, I’m happy you're happy.” 

“Mom loves her.” 

“Did you expect her not to?”

“No, but Lena was worried.” 

“I know.” 

“Tell me, Alex,” Kara starts, picking up her head from the shoulder it was resting on. “Does it get exhausting knowing everything?”

“Sometimes,” Alex sighs as if it’s a fate worse than death. “But being perfect takes the edge off having to hang out with _people_ like you.”

Another moment of quiet and comfortable contemplation pass before Kara breaks the silence. “They seem to have cozied up pretty quickly.” 

A shrug. “Mom’s like that.” 

“It’s that Danvers charm,” Kara declares with a slight chuckle and downs the rest of her beer. 

“Hmm,” is Alex’s reply.

They sit in silence for a while, until Kara hears there’s a raging fire in the city and can’t sit around when she can help. She leaves for a few hours, promising to keep Alex updated and asks her to fill Lena in.

When she gets back from a few hours of pulling civilians from fallen rubble, re-setting bones and stabilizing the crumbling building, she lands in the backyard changed out of her super suit and her eyes land on Lena’s sleeping form on the bench, waiting for her. Just as she was about to scoop Lena up into her arms, as if sensing Kara nearby, Lena pulls her down on top of her, hungry lips crashing together without a moment’s hesitation.

“You smell like smoke,” Lena mumbles, her face flushed and her pupils blown.

“Sorry,” Kara breathes, her lips brushing Lena’s as she angles her head sideways and slides her tongue in her mouth, groaning when hands cup her ass. 

“Car,” Lena speaks through the fervent kiss that turns sloppy as her desire rises to a dangerous boiling point when Kara drags her fingers under her loose sweater. 

“Okay,” Kara agrees without needing much persuading. 

Kara breaks her promise on not making love to Lena while her family is staying in their house for a quick romp on the backseat of Lena's car, and despite the lack of space and awkward angles, they manage to wring out a few pleasurable orgasms out of each other with insistent fingers and eager mouths. But the thrill of being caught is well worth it, Kara thinks.

She changes her mind the next morning, however, when Sam finds a pair of discarded panties as she slips in the backseat of that very car. Kara almost breaks the gear stick when they come into view, along with Sam’s scandalized but amused face. 

Kara’s mouth opens and closes a few times before something that resembles a sentence comes out of her mouth, making her blush harder. “I - uh, they must have fallen out of a box when we were moving yesterday.” 

“They must have,” Sam lingers on every word with heightened skepticism. 

Lena laughs and pushes the sunglasses down her nose and grasps the underwear she recognizes are her own, throwing them in the glove box in front of her. She turns around in her seat and fails to hide the pleased expression on her face. “ _Someone probably roughed_ up the box they were in.”

“Sounds like it was a pretty bumpy ride,” Sam suggests, feigning innocence when Kara shoots daggers her way. 

“It always is when this one is driving,” Lena drawls, sliding hand on Kara’s thigh and squeezing the muscle underneath.

Sam was Lena’s best friend, and though distance keeps them apart for most of the year, talking about their sex life was far from an uncommon topic of conversation. Though, it’s definitely the first time they speak about it in Kara’s presence. 

Kara pays them back tenfold for the embarrassment when she speeds out of the driveway, right foot slamming on the gas, left foot deftly clutching in first gear and then second quickly. Pulling the parking brake, she drifts onto the road at a speed that was more than enough to draw out yelps from both of her passengers. 

_I win_ , Kara smiles brightly as Lena slaps her shoulder and shouts about not getting some until after the wedding. Kara doesn’t mind though, she knows Lena can’t hold out that long. 

* * *

2 days until the wedding

Lena sublets the penthouse to some criminal lawyer while Kara hands off the keys of her apartment to the landlord with a teary smile as they both settle in their new home that’s almost completely furnished, yet it still feels bare without any decorations or touch of personal design. 

They don’t have much time to spare on interior decor between moving and planning a wedding, so they decide to hire a designer after the wedding and seal it with a kiss in their master suite currently only furnished with a king-sized mattress laying on the floor and boxes piled in the walk-in closet. 

They didn’t plan to move so soon, but the house was already vacated and the owners had instantly accepted Lena’s offer. With all the family around to help it was more than convenient to get a head start on settling in before they have to get back to their hectic lives. 

Lena joins Kara and the others on the dock, her eyes immediately glued to the deep turquoise Hawaiian shirt that Kara is wearing. It has a heavy floral print also featuring a few pineapples. 

“Lena,” Alex shouts in relief of whatever pain she’s in once her gaze meets hers, “please tell my idiot sister that her shirt is ugly so I can burn it.” 

“What do you mean ugly?” Kara frowns and glances down at the shirt in question. “The pineapples look so cute!”

“It’s absolutely hideous,” Lena replies as she wraps one arm around Kara’s waist and slips her hand into the front pocket of her blue-washed jeans. “But I love it.” Yes, the shirt merits no fashion award, but the way it clings to Kara’s body and shows off her olive skin and toned arms, could she really complain?

“Ah!” Kara mockingly sticks out her tongue at her sister as she throws her arm over Lena’s shoulders, and Alex retorts by flipping Kara off.

“Don’t count that as a victory, she said it was _hideous_.” Alex declares with a triumphant smile. 

“But she _loves_ it.” Kara counters, and feels Lena’s shoulders shake with laughter under her arm.

“I love how it _fits_ you,” she punctuates the statement by sliding her up Kara’s chest and straightens the collar. “There’s a difference,” is added with a wink that’s mostly hidden under the pair of aviators on her face.

“But, okay, hypothetically speaking, would you be seen with me in public if I was wearing this?” Kara pulls away from the embrace and spreads her arms out, gesturing at her outfit with a nod of her head. 

Lena tilts her head, voicing her concern: “I feel like that's most likely a trick question.” 

“Answer the question, _Lena_ ,” Kara presses, her arms folding over her chest. She almost breaks character when she feels Lena’s warm gaze on her forearms. 

“I would, but I might have to explain how I have no control over how you dress.”

“Wow, you really love her,” Alex crinkles her nose in disgust. “Gross.” 

“I’ll show you gross,” Kara wets her index and proceeds to chase her sister around the docks and its occupants.

Lena and Kelly stare at each other and roll their eyes affectionately at their respective partners and watch as they squeal and hurl insults at each other. 

“Touch me and you're dead!”

“As if you can stop me!”

The run around Lena and Kelly, shamelessly using them as human shields. After loyalties are tested and boundaries are undoubtedly crossed, they settle down, or that’s what Kara thinks until the three women gang up on her in an attempt to throw Kara off the ledge of the dock by pushing at her back in some misguided hope she’ll let them. All they do is struggle and strain against something that is impossibly immovable.

“Don’t make me laugh, tiny humans!” Kara feels the women move away from her and when she turns around to ask them if that’s all they got with a smug grin, she notices a blur fast approaching. The moment it impacts into her chest she’s hurled overboard, quickly catching herself in mid-air to hover just above the water. 

Her eyes widen and her mouth curls into a surprised smile when they land on her cousin’s handsome face and impeccable hair, “Clark!” All the tension of a potential fight dissolves when she eases back down on the dock and they wrap each other in a tight hug. 

When Kara moves back she spots Lois’ smiling face over his shoulder. She looks more relaxed than usual in loose pants and a matching sleeveless flowy top, sunglasses pulling her hair away from her face. 

When Kara settles her gaze back onto Clark, she speaks to him in their native language. _“When did you get in?”_

_“Just now, and It’s good to see you, Kara.”_

_“It’s been too long, I’ve missed you.”_

_“I see why, you’ve been getting in all kinds of trouble without me.”_ He chuckles and basks in the warmth of the sun on his exposed skins. 

Kara’s next words are spoken in English. “Ugh, I know, these women are unbearable to be around.” 

Clark throws his head back in laughter when several dirty looks are shot Kara’s way. Not wanting to get in the crossfire, he turns to greet the rest of the group, drawing them into a gentle and amicable hug. 

He turns sharply when he hears a particularly loud yelp, and watches as Kara tackles (tenderly, he assumes) both Kara and Alex into the lake. Their bodies impact the surface of the water with a splash that makes the water rise above the dock. He winces as he recognizes the look of pure rage in their eyes once they emerge back to the surface. 

“I’ll suffocate you in your sleep!” 

“I’m divorcing you the moment we get married!”

They spend the rest of the afternoon swimming and sunbathing once Lena helps Clark and Lois settle in one of the guest rooms. Even if she truly dislikes how the sun’s warm rays hit her pale skin, the second Kara’s bright blue eyes bore into hers, the sunburn Lena's bound to acquire after a day out is well worth it. 

* * *

1 day until the wedding 

Lena is leaning against the porch as barely awake green eyes land on Kara’s figure standing in the yard. She wraps her arms around herself, the sweater she had plucked from one of Kara’s boxes, although obnoxiously brightly-colored, is effectively keeping her warm despite the cool early morning air. 

Kara’s hair is pulled into a messy bun, loose strands are picked up by the wind and dance about freely. She’s wearing Lena’s black sweatpants and a grey t-shirt, the exposed skin unbothered by the chilly draft.

Tomorrow Lena will be married to this woman and they’re going to start a life together in this house. The thought seems almost surreal, like a hazy dream that’s barely alive in your memory once you open your eyes. 

Willing her legs to work, Lena pushes off the balcony and steps down the wooden stairs, silently crossing the yard until she stops right behind Kara. Leisurely, as if to not disturb her, Lena wraps both of her arms around her waist and presses herself into her back. She rests her cheek between the shoulder blades there and tightens her hold instinctively, breathing in the smell of her freshly washed hair and the gentle touch of perfume that clings to all of Kara’s clothes. 

“I made coffee,” Lena mumbles, a content sigh escaping her when Kara’s hands cover her arms, squeezing lightly as if to say good morning.

“It’s your last day of freedom, anything you want to tell me?” Kara jokes, turning around in the circle of Lena’s arms and pressing her hand against the middle of her back. She lifts her hand up to her Lena's face, her knuckles grazing against her cheek as she tugs her closer to press a kiss on her forehead and a second one on the tip her nose.

“I won’t pretend I’m not nervous if you won’t,” Lena teases lightly as Kara’s arms wrap around her shoulders securely. She fully acknowledges that the butterflies in her stomach aren’t there only because of the press of Kara’s lips to hers, or the loving gaze in cobalt eyes that warms her very soul once she breaks the kiss and their gazes meet.

“I’m a little spooked,” Kara whispers softly, “but I’m glad I’m doing this with you.”

“So you’re not going to leave me at the alter right? Just checking.”

“Never,” Kara answers sincerely and steals another kiss. “I know it’s in the past now, but I - thank you for sticking by me. Through everything. I can’t promise you a perfect marriage, but I’ll do my best not to be such a - such a closed-off jerk.”

It was definitely still surreal, Lena thinks. Before she met Kara, Lena didn't know what it was like to have a friend, much less a best friend, and now that friend that taught her was love and trust was is going to become her wife. "There’s no need to thank me for something I’ll always do, even when you’re being a complete idiot and I’m being a raging bitch.”

Kara chuckles as she brings their forehead together. “‘Till death do us part, right?”

“ _Or,”_ Lena drawls as she trails her hands up Kara’s arms, wrapping them around her neck, “until you murder me to steal my fortune.”

“Oh, scandalous. I would definitely order a hit on you though.”

“Just a thought, love, but I’m fairly certain that telling me your plan spoils it.”

“ _Or_ maybe you played right into my trap and I have something else planned entirely.”

“Here I thought I was the one with the Luthor genes.”

Their banter is cut short when Kara’s mouth finds hers again and they share a kiss that’s far more passionate than the previous ones. Lena can taste the toothpaste on Kara’s lips, groaning when she opens her mouth and Kara’s tongue slides against hers. 

Kara pulls back, shivers rising on the back of her neck when Lena groans in protest. “Wanna go for a drive?”

“I thought you’d never ask,” she answers breathlessly, her eyes growing darker once Kara grasps her hand and leads them around the front of the house.

They drive until they find a suitably private and quiet road, leaving the freshly brewed coffee and pre-marriage jitters behind them.

“This is a hiking trail,” Lena announces and loses the will to move somewhere else the moment Kara settles on top of her on the backseat.

“So?” Kara inquires with a quirked eyebrow while Lena’s impatient hands are pushing the hem of her shirt upwards. Lifting herself up, she cranes her neck at an awkward angle and somehow maneuvers herself out of the shirt in the cramped space.

“I don’t know where I was going with that,” Lena admits and trails kisses on Kara’s newly exposed chest. The fear of being caught by an early bird jogger is thrown out of her mind when Kara pulls her into her lap and buries her face in her chest.

Maybe car sex isn’t so bad after all. 


End file.
